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News > World

Rihanna Protests Use of Music at 'Tragic' Trump Rallies

  • Over the last few weeks, Rihanna has encouraged her U.S. followers to participate in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

    Over the last few weeks, Rihanna has encouraged her U.S. followers to participate in Tuesday’s midterm elections. | Photo: Reuters

Published 5 November 2018
Opinion

"Me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies," Rihanna tweeted.

Rihanna doesn’t want her music played at President Donald Trump’s “tragic rallies,”  the Barbadian pop singer said from her Twitter account Sunday.

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In response to a tweet which reported her tune, “Don’t Stop the Music,” was “blaring” at a rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee this weekend, Rihanna wrote: “Not for much longer...me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies,  so thanks for the heads up, Philip!”

Over the last few weeks, the musician has encouraged U.S. citizens to participate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which critics have described as one of the most potentially pivotal elections since Trump’s rise to office in 2016.

Other artists have rejected the use of their music at Trump rallies. Last week, Pharrell Williams published a letter, demanding the president refrain from playing his song “Happy” after the popular tune was blasted at an Indiana rally just hours after the tragic synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“There was nothing 'happy' about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose,” Pharrell wrote.

Elton John, R.E.M., Adele, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Guns ‘n’ Roses’ lead singer Axl Rose and Aerosmith have echoed these sentiments, attempting on many occasions to prevent Trump supporters from using their art to promote political agendas.

After writing a “cease and desist” letter to Trump, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler tweeted, “This is not about Dems vs. Repub. I do not let anyone use my songs without my permission. My music is for causes, not for political campaigns or rallies. Protecting copyright and songwriters is what I've been fighting for even before this current administration took office.”

Allegedly, there is an overarching license with most major publishing companies in the case of campaign rallies which allows for the public use of the songs without an artists permission, Gandhar Savur, senior vice-president for legal affairs at Rough Trade Publishing, told the Guardian.

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