Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has said that any royalties earned from Donald Trump using one of songs will be donated to the Kamala Harris campaign.
The former president used the band’s 1997 song ‘My Hero’ as he welcomed Robert F. Kennedy to an Arizona rally after the independent candidate endorsed him.
In response, the band said in a statement to Billboard: ‘Foo Fighters. were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it.’
It added that ‘appropriate actions are being taken’ against the Trump campaign and that royalties received would be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.
In response to being asked by an X account 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 of the State Department in Washington, DC, on September 27, 2023
The former president used the band’s 1997 song ‘My Hero’ as he welcomed Robert F. Kennedy to an Arizona rally after the independent candidate endorsed him
The band are the latest in a string of artists who have blasted Trump and his campaign for use of their music without authorization.
Earlier this month, superstar Beyoncé threatened to send him a cease-and-desist after his spokesman Steven Cheung used her song in a clip posted to social media.
The tweet, which has since been removed, was underscored by the track and said: ‘Touchdown in Michigan!!’, showing Trump getting off an airplane.
Trump’s campaign was never granted permission to use the song, a source close to the Houston-born musical artist told Rolling Stone.
Trump has in the past found himself at the scrutiny of artists whose material he has played at his rallies without the permission of the performers.
They include Céline Dion and Phil Collins, and the estates of late artists such as Sinéad O’Connor, Isaac Hayes, and Tom Petty.
On August 11, lawyers for Hayes’ estate filed a notice of copyright infringement against the Trump campaign over its use of Hayes ‘Hold On, I’m Coming’ without authorization.
American band Foo Fighters performs on the Orange Stage at Roskilde Festival on Friday, July 5, 2024
This isn’t the first time the former Nirvana drummer has called out a Republican for using My Hero.
In 2008, the band told John McCain to stop using the track in his campaign for president saying it ‘tarnished’ the song.
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.
‘To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.’
The chart-topping band has previously taken actions against protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church, a hate group that has picketed several of their concerts.
The group has previously performed a parody song for the organization and covered the Bee Gees’ track You Should Be Dancing in response to their anti-LGBT views.
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