Musicians Who've Slammed Trump for Using Their Songs Without Permission

If it feels like every few months another artist is telling a certain president to stop playing their music, that’s because it keeps happening. Since 2016, the list of objections has grown to include Adele, Queen, R.E.M., the Rolling Stones, Steven Tyler, Neil Young, Pharrell, Rihanna, and Ozzy Osbourne, among many others. The pattern didn’t slow down in 2024, when Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, and Jack White all raised objections in a single August.

Some disputes went further than a strongly worded letter. The Isaac Hayes estate won a temporary court order blocking“Hold On, I’m Coming”at rallies, and the White Stripes sued the Trump campaign that September over“Seven Nation Army,”issuing the statement“This machine sues fascists.”Neil Young had already tried the lawsuit route back in 2020, later dropping the case after Trump lost. Celine Dion’s team even mocked the use of“My Heart Will Go On,”the Titanic ballad, at a campaign event.

The story kept going into Trump’s second term. Sabrina Carpenter and Zara Larsson objected to their music appearing in White House ICE deportation videos, and Olivia Rodrigo and Kenny Loggins pushed back on unauthorized and AI-generated uses of their work. Meanwhile, artists like Kid Rock and Jason Aldean have publicly backed Trump, which keeps the debate alive every time a familiar song shows up somewhere new. So here’s the question: if a politician used your favorite artist’s song at an event, should the artist get a say?