Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has said that any royalties earned from Donald Trump’s use of one of his songs will be donated to Kamala Harris’ campaign.
The former president used the band’s 1997 song “My Hero” when he welcomed Robert F. Kennedy at a rally in Arizona after the independent candidate endorsed him.
In response, the band said in a statement: Billboard‘Foo Fighters were not asked for permission, and if they had been, they would not have granted it.’
He added that “appropriate action is being taken” against the Trump campaign and that royalties received will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.
When asked by Account X if the band had let Trump use the song, they simply replied, “No.”
Dave Grohl performs during a celebration marking the launch of the Music Diplomacy Initiative in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on September 27, 2023.
The former president used the band’s 1997 song “My Hero” when he welcomed Robert F. Kennedy to a rally in Arizona after the independent candidate endorsed him.
The band is the latest in a series of artists to criticize Trump and his campaign for using their music without permission.
Earlier this month, superstar Beyoncé threatened to send him a cease and desist letter after her spokesperson Steven Cheung used her song in a clip posted on social media.
The tweet, which has since been deleted, was underlined by the song and read: ‘Landing in Michigan!’, showing Trump getting off a plane.
The Trump campaign never received permission to use the song, a source close to the Houston-born musical artist told Rolling Stone.
In the past, Trump has found himself under scrutiny from artists whose material he has played at his rallies without the performers’ permission.
These include Céline Dion and Phil Collins, and the estates of deceased artists including Sinéad O’Connor, Isaac Hayes and Tom Petty.
On August 11, attorneys for the Hayes estate filed a copyright infringement notice against the Trump campaign for its unauthorized use of Hayes’ “Hold On, I’m Coming.”
American band Foo Fighters will perform on the Orange Stage at Roskilde Festival on Friday, July 5, 2024
This isn’t the first time the former Nirvana drummer has criticized a Republican for using My Hero.
In 2008, the band told John McCain to stop using the song in his presidential campaign, saying it “tarnished” it.
The band said in a statement: ‘The saddest thing about this is that My Hero was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential.
“For them to appropriate it without our knowledge and use it in a way that perverts the original sentiment of the lyrics simply tarnishes the song.”
The chart-topping band has previously taken action against protesters at Westboro Baptist Church, a hate group that has picketed several of their concerts.
The group previously performed a parody song for the organization, covering the Bee Gees’ song You Should Be Dancing in response to its anti-LGBT views.
