KILL THE MUSIC

Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters Slam Trump for Using Hit Song at Rally

The band said that any royalties generated by Trump’s use of “My Hero” would go to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

The Foo Fighters called out Donald Trump after the former president used their song “My Hero” at an Arizona rally on Friday without permission.

The 1997 hit played alongside a pyrotechnic display as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to the stage in Phoenix, hours after suspending his 2024 presidential bid and endorsing the GOP nominee.

As videos of the rally hit social media, the Foo Fighters responded to users on X, formerly known as Twitter, curious about the Republican candidate’s song choice.

“Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,” a spokesperson for the the band told Billboard.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl added that any royalties earned from the former president’s use of “My Hero” would go to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign.

CEASE-AND-DESIST

Beyoncé Threatens Legal Action Over Trump’s ‘Freedom’ Video

Eboni Boykin-Patterson

Grohl’s group is the latest in a string of artists to speak out against the Trump campaign’s unauthorized use of their music.

On Aug. 22, Beyoncé threatened the former president with a cease-and-desist after his spokesman Steven Cheung used her song “Freedom” to mock Vice President Kamala Harris in a now deleted post on X.

Trump’s play-first, ask-later music policy has also landed him in hot water with the family of soul legend Isaac Hayes, which is suing the Republican presidential candidate for using the song “Hold On (I’m Coming)” at multiple rallies for years.

Trump’s unauthorized use of music has also angered Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr (“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”), Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (“Dream On”), Rihanna (“Don’t Stop the Music”), and the estates of Prince (“Purple Rain”) and Tom Petty (“I Won’t Back Down”).

The estate of the late Beatle George Harrison was unhappy that the Trump campaign used the Harrison-penned Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun” at the 2016 Republican National Convention, but said it would consider letting Trump use Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” instead.