(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) It has been a quadrennial rite of passage for left-wing performing artists to virtue-signal their values in the most petty possible way—not only by ruining their music for fans with inane political statements, but by actively denying political opponents the right to license their music.
Already during the 2024 campaign, several artists have publicly grandstanded with tirades against former President Donald Trump, the current GOP presidential nominee.
A Wikipedia entry on the subject lists roughly 40 Trump-hating musicians—although many of the entries represent the estates or surviving family members of artists who are now deceased, or whose opposition was voiced in one of Trump’s two prior presidential campaigns.
In a particularly virulent case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, former White Stripes guitarist Jack White left a 70-word screed last week in the comments of Trump Deputy Communications Director Margo Martin after she shared a video of Trump walking up the steps of his plane, Trump Force One, that was accompanied by the distinctive bass intro of White’s song “Seven Nation Army.”
“Oh….Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” White wrote.
“Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.)” he continued. “… And as long as I’m here, a double f**k you DonOLD for insulting our nation’s veterans at Arlington you scum.”
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It is likely that Trump himself remained unaware of the invective, and that Martin or someone on Trump’s communications team added the music while posting the video, without consideration of White’s political opinions.
Many of Trump’s supporters seemed puzzled as to who the Detroit rocker from the early Aughts was, given his long absence from the public eye.
A has been one hit wonder
— Nick Jay (@Nick_Jay_D) August 29, 2024
Other artists desperate for headlines, such as Swedish disco act ABBA and ’90s pop-rockers the Foo Fighters, have likewise gone public with their complaints.
Notably, the Foo Fighters falsely claimed that Trump did not have permission to use their song “My Hero” at an Arizona rally where he received the endorsement of former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Yet, as it turned out, the campaign had indeed licensed it.
🚨 NEW: The Foo Fighters LIED about Trump not having permission to use “My Hero” while introducing RFK Jr
Trump should SUE these leftist hacks for defamation.
The Trump campaign actually DID license the song through BMI’s Songview service, as confirmed by documents provided to… pic.twitter.com/GmhxGwn7q0
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 25, 2024
And while former Destiny’s Child singer Beyoncé Knowles may have disappointed fans hoping she would make a headlining performance after Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech during the Democratic National Convention, she made clear where she stood politically by licensing the song “Freedom” to Harris’s campaign and sending a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump campaign for using it in a parody.
For Republicans who feel slighted and insulted by the snubs, the decision on whether to cancel a particular artist can often be fairly simple, since few of those who opt to attack the GOP have music that speaks or appeals to the values, sensibilities and tastes of flyover-state Americans in the first place.
However, conservative X users undoubtedly received a shock after a recent post circulated that included a few unlikely NeverTrumpers, fueling heartbreak, and perhaps a few existential crises, among lovers of classic songs like “The Gambler” and “Freebird.”
How is Trump’s campaign going to survive without the righteous chops of Nickelback?! 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/vNfja2eU2k
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) August 31, 2024
While the source of the graphic remains a mystery, it was shared on Saturday by Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, a RedState columnist and author best known for his behind-the-scenes insignts into the Clinton administration, where he reportedly safeguarded the briefcase containing the nuclear codes.
Patterson’s roughly 379,000 followers likely helped it to circulate and achieve semi-virality over the weekend, where it came to the attention of Headline USA.
The graphic, which included what appeared to be a logo from the Reuters news syndicate, contained a list of more than 30 artists who allegedly opposed Trump.
Among the artists included was the late Kenny Rogers—who, in life had expressed his adoration for the MAGA leader.
“I love what he says, I have to admit,” Rogers (who died in March 2020) told The Guardian in a 2015 interview about “He can be president and not owe anybody anything; he’s one of the few people who has the money to do it, and has the guts to do it.”
Meanwhile, the famously apolitical Dolly Parton has gone out of her way to avoid tipping her hand to one party or another, precariously navigating the waters of both the Right and Left due to her country-music fanbase and cult-like status within the LGBT community.
Also listed were Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd, who continue to tour despite the loss last year of the band’s last surviving original member, guitarist Gary Rossington.
The band’s presence on the list was particularly awkward given the appearance by well-known Trump basher and vaccine fanboy Neil Young, who famously made an unflattering cameo in the lyrics to Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”
The band, which has been known to feature the Confederate flag in its memorabilia, undoubtedly would have lost considerable credibility among fans by denouncing Trump in favor of the far-left Harris, evoking painful memories of Bud Light’s ill-fated flirtation with the ESG movement.
After witnessing the dramatic downfall of the iconic beer brand, other companies known to cater to conservative values—including John Deere, Tractor Supply, Harley–Davidson, Cracker Barrel, Jack Daniels, Home Depot and Lowe’s—have quickly backed off when their controversial policies have come to light.
Thankfully, the viral list of Trump-hating artists proved to be a hoax—at least partially.
Lynyrd Skynyrd manager Ross Schilling clarified that both the Trump and Harris campaigns have licensed its music and have permission to use it.
“No current band member nor management person has been approached or told either political campaign, that the band’s music can not be played at events or rally’s,” Schilling wrote. “In fact, I believe both political campaigns have paid ASCAP and BMI fees that allow them to utilize and have access to tens of thousands of songs that are available thru those performance rights organizations.”
Schilling said that while artists may voice their preferences, oftentimes it would be at the discretion of whoever holds the licensing rights to make a determination about who has permission to play it.
“Universal Music Publishing administers and handles the licensing for [Lynyrd Skynyrd’s] catalog of songs, and I am not aware of anyone at UMG or the band’s estates (original writers), stating that the band’s music cannot be played at any political events,” he noted.
Moreover, Johnny Van Zant (the current lead vocalist for Skynyrd) and Donnie Van Zant (vocalist of the band .38 Special)—the brothers of original frontman Ronnie Van Zant, who died with several other members in a 1977 plane crash—released a song titled “Sweet Florida” for the 2022 reelection campaign Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The Van Zant brothers live in Florida and were proud to support their home state Governor,” Schilling said.
Lynyrd Skynyrd even invited DeSantis onstage during a concert, to widespread audience acclaim.
WATCH: a packed crowd at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert erupts into cheers and USA chants when Gov DeSantis takes stage with his family pic.twitter.com/P2Y6qp8R8w
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) October 17, 2022
Schilling also questioned the credibility of the London-based Reuters, believed to have been the source of the phony list. “[Y]ou reference Reuters, but that doesn’t necessarily make it accurate,” he observed.
However, Reuters confirmed in a separate email to Headline USA that it had nothing to do with the post.
“The tweet you cite does not contain a Reuters-made graphic,” noted Ethics and Standards Editor Brian Moss.
The news service did run an article the previous Thursday about ABBA’s request for Trump to stop using its music, “but the inaccurate Lynyrd Skynyrd information was not included in the story,” Moss added. “We are attempting to get the tweet image removed.”
Headline USA also reached out to representatives for Parton and Rogers, as well as Nickelback and Miley Cyrus, and to Patterson, who shared the post, but none had replied as of Wednesday night.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
