Donald Trump Campaign And Foo Fighters In Fresh Row Over Music Use

The Foo Fighters have found themselves in an unexpected back-and-forth with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

It all started last week, when Trump appeared on stage at one of his political rallies in Arizona to the sounds of the Foo Fighters tune My Hero.

The group wasted no time in making it clear that they had not granted the former US president to play their music at his political events, reiterating such on X shortly after the rally.

However, seemingly unbeknownst to Dave Grohl and his bandmates, the Trump campaign has now claimed that they did seek the relevant permission.

The Independent reported that Trump’s team sought permission using BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) to play the track, which campaign manager Steven Cheung reiterated in an X post aimed at the Foo Fighters, using their own song titles against them.

A representative for Foo Fighters told HuffPost UK that the band “were not asked permission” directly, and “would not have granted it” if they had been.

It’s perhaps worth pointing out that Cheung made no such retort when reports emerged last week claiming that Beyoncé that slapped Trump with a cease-and-desist over his use of her song Freedom (the same track which has become an anthem for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign) at his political events.

But she is far from the first prolific musician to come for the Trump campaign.

In the last month alone, Céline Dion’s team and the estate of Isaac Hayes have spoken out against Trump for featuring their music at his rallies, while the family of Sinéad O’Connor and The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr have publicly blasted Trump for featuring songs without permission at his political campaign events earlier this year.