Donald Trump‘s campaign is asserting its right to use Foo Fighters‘ “My Hero” at events despite the band’s public denunciation of the campaign’s prior use of the track.
“We have a license to play the song,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in an email to The Hill. Additionally, he tweeted at the band, using puns of the group’s song titles in his response: “It’s Times Like These facts matter, don’t be a Pretender,” Cheung wrote, tagging Foo Fighters and adding a link to The Independent‘s article about the licensing issue.
Trump played Foo Fighters’ 1997 anthem in welcoming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Friday (Aug. 23) rally in Glendale, Ariz., held after the independent presidential candidate suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump for president. “I don’t think too many of you people have heard of him, he’s very low-key,” Trump said just before the chorus of “My Hero” began to play. “He’s a very low-key person, but he’s highly respected. He is a great person. I’ve known him for so long. For the past 16 months. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
“Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,” a spokesperson previously told Billboard of the unauthorized usage. Furthermore, “appropriate actions are being taken” against the campaign, the spokesperson added, noting that any royalties received as a result of the campaign’s usage of the track will be donated to the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign.
The Trump campaign’s use of “My Hero” marks the third instance this month in which an artist has accused the campaign of using their music without permission. One day prior to the campaign’s use of “My Hero,” Cheung posted a 13-second video to his X account featuring Trump stepping off a plane to the strains of Beyoncé’s “Freedom” — a track the Harris/Walz campaign had been using as its official anthem, with Beyonce’s permission, for weeks prior. Shortly after Beyonce’s record label and music publisher sent the Trump campaign a cease-and-desist, Cheung removed the video from his account.
