Artists Elton John (right), Adele (second from right), Rihanna and Tom Petty rejected Donald Trump's use of their songs (agencies)

The legal representative of Irish Muslim singer Sinead Akonnor has joined a long list of singers and musicians who object to former US President Donald Trump using their songs in his election campaign to run for president.

Throughout his political career, since his campaign for the presidential elections in 2016, Trump has faced fierce opposition and harsh attacks from the most famous Hollywood stars.

Among them are Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. He also faces rejection from a large number of bands and singers inside and outside the United States of America, and has received warnings to stop using their works, including: Rihanna, Adele, Elton John, Tom Petty and others.

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Last week, the legal representative of Sinead O'Connor's estate asked Trump to stop using her music at his political rallies, after his campaign played her most famous song, "Nothing Compares 2 U," at a campaign event in Maryland last month.

The late Irish singer Sinead O'Connor converted to Islam in 2018 (Getty)

A joint statement from the estate and its Chrysalis Records brand said: “Sinead O'Connor has lived her entire life by a clear moral code of honesty, kindness, fairness and decency towards her fellow human beings.

We've learned with great fury that Donald Trump was using her famous rendition of "Nothing Compares to You" at his political demonstrations, and it's no exaggeration to say that O'Connor would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted if her work had been misrepresented in this way by someone she herself referred to as "the devil." Bible".

O'Connor died last July at the age of 56, noting that she converted to Islam in 2018.

Rihanna threat

American singer Rihanna threatened the former president to take legal action against him after he used her song “Don't Stop the Music” in one of his marches, stressing that she neither agrees with him nor supports him.

Trump, in turn, responded by criticizing her performance at halftime in the NFL final, and said on “Truth Social” that without “her designer, she would be nothing. Everything is bad, and there is no talent.”

The famous American singer Rihanna called on Trump to stop using her songs in his election campaigns (Reuters)

The Rolling Stones also threatened Trump with legal action in 2016, sending him demands to stop after he played the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and used the song again in June. June 2020, and the band threatened legal action if it was played again.

The former US President was also exposed to an embarrassing situation in 2016 with his fellow singer Bruce Springsteen, after he used his song “Born In The USA” at a political rally, and the singer announced his support for his rival at the time, Hillary Clinton.

Adele and Elton John

Outside the United States, British singer Adele said that she did not want her music used in any political campaign, after Trump used some of her songs, such as “Skyfall” in 2016.

As for British musician and singer Sir Elton John, he confirmed that he believes that he is a British musician who has no place in American politics after Trump used the songs “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer.”

John said it was not personal, but added that his political views are completely different from Trump's.

The rejection came again from Italy, where the family of Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti objected to Trump using his recordings at a political rally, and said that Trump's views on immigration conflicted with Pavarotti's efforts to raise money for refugees.

On June 16, 2015, the day Trump announced his candidacy, Canadian-born singer-songwriter Neil Young denounced the use of his songs and issued a statement saying that Trump was "not authorized" to play "Rockin' in the Free World." World) when announced.

Young was a supporter of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but the song was used again during a Trump rally on July 4, 2020, angering Young.

Members of the rock band R.E.M. announced in 2015 that they "do not authorize or condone" Trump playing "It's the End of the World as We Know It" at a rally opposing the Iran nuclear deal, where he requested... Guitarist Mike Mills of Trump Cease and Desist, while lead singer Michael Stipe tweeted, "You power-hungry little men, don't use our music or my voice in your stupid campaign charade."

Trump submitted to demands to stop using the music of the rock band Aerosmith in October 2015, tweeting at the time that lead singer Steven Tyler “asked me not to do it,” and declared that he would “find better music to replace it,” later claiming in another tweet. that Tyler "got more publicity based on his song request than he had in ten years."

Even though I have the legal right to use Steven Tyler's song, he asked me not to.

Have better one to take its place!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2015

Trump was also subjected to a fierce attack in 2016 from the British rock band Queen due to his use of the song “We Are the Champions” at the 2016 Republican National Convention, saying in a statement that it was “disappointed by the repeated unauthorized use of the song.” The band "does not want to be associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country."

He refused after winning the presidency

Despite winning the presidency of the United States of America, in 2017 singer Dee Snyder asked Trump to stop using his song “We're Not Gonna Take It” as an anthem for his election campaign after it was published and its use angered his fans. In 2018, singer Pharrell Williams sent a request. Clearly to stop using the song "Happy" at a rally in Indiana just hours after the shooting at the Tree of Life Church in Pennsylvania, which left 11 worshipers dead, "there was nothing," his lawyer wrote in a letter. Said “In the tragedy that has befallen our country, you have not been given any permission to use this song for this purpose.”

Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues' blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters' consent.

Can u say “shitbags?!”💩

— Axl Rose (@axlrose) November 4, 2018

Pistols & Roses lead singer X Rose tweeted in 2018 that the band had “officially requested that our music not be used at Trump rallies or Trump-related events,” but that the campaign was “using loopholes in various blanket performance licenses for venues that were not intended for such cowardly political purposes.” Without the consent of the songwriters,” Rose did not stop criticizing Trump during the years of his presidency, and referred to him in various places and attacked him in more than ten tweets, according to what was monitored by the “Billboard” website.

The following year, a copyright complaint was filed by Canadian rock band Pickleback with Twitter (now X), and succeeded in convincing its administrators to remove a doctored version of the music video for their song “Picture.” Trump.

In 2022, the family of the late American singer Tom Petty confirmed, in a statement, that Trump was “in no way authorized” to play the song “I Won’t Back Down” at his gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma, adding that Petty and his family... “They stand firm against racism, violence and discrimination of any kind,” calling the Trump campaign a “hate campaign,” and issuing a cease and desist warning over use of the song.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies