You can add Rufus Wainwright to the list of musicians who don’t want Donald J. Trump using their music at his campaign rallies.
The Republican presidential nominee ended a town hall rally in Pennsylvania on Monday by playing some popular songs for about 30 minutes, and among them was the Canadian-American performer’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s heralded 1984 song Hallelujah.
When Wainwright found out, he voiced displeasure via social media.
“Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy,” he wrote in a statement posted to X, Instagram and Facebook, adding he was “mortified.”
Wainwright, who has dual citizenship and is therefore eligible to vote in the upcoming U.S. election, also said he is “all in for Kamala!”
Hallelujah has been covered by hundreds of artists over the years, but few of the troubadours who’ve done so have the same connection to the Cohen family as Wainwright, who fathered two children with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s daughter, Lorca.
Trump may not be able to play any version of the oft-replicated song in the future, as Wainwright’s statement also notes the publishing company for Cohen’s estate has sent the campaign a cease and desist letter.
This isn’t the first time unauthorized use of the song has struck a chord. In 2020, the Cohen estate was “exploring legal options” after the song was played at the Republic National Convention.
In a statement at the time, Michelle L. Rice, legal representative of the Cohen estate, wrote that they might have considered approving You Want it Darker, an ominous song from the 2017 album of the same name released 17 days before Cohen’s death.
The master rights to the Hallelujah, as reported by Rolling Stone, belong to U.K.-based Hipgnosis Song Management, an intellectual property investment firm that purchases rights to popular music and treats them as long-term assets. The company, which owns and manages over 40,000 of the “most successful and culturally important songs of all time,” got Hallelujah along with 277 more Cohen songs in a 2022 deal.
Those rights entitle Hipgnosis to Cohen’s original recording of the song, but not the publishing rights, which govern how it is licensed for use.
Hipgnosis did not reply to The National Post’s request for comment, and it’s not immediately clear who owns the song’s publishing rights.
Trump’s presidential playlist
The unexpected mini-concert at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds in the battleground state was precipitated by emergency medical events involving two attendees, according to multiple media outlets, including CBS.
On X, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the songs came “from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!,” referencing Trump’s initials.
Other songs played included two versions of Ave Maria, James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, November Rain from Guns N’ Roses, An American Trilogy by Elvis, and Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye. The night wrapped up with one of the DNC’s go-to tracks — The Village People’s Y.M.C.A.
Also played was Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor, despite her estate and record label having asked the Trump campaign to “desist from using her music immediately” in a March joint statement.
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axel Rose and The Village People have, in the past, also objected to Trump’s use of their music.
Trump has a long history of using unauthorized music, dating back to the 2016 election campaign, a list topped by megastars such as Adele, The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.
Other artists who’ve asked him to refrain during this current run for office include ABBA, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, The White Stripes and Foo Fighters, who, upon learning the use of their song My Hero was licensed, said they would donate any royalties from it to the campaign for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
To date, there’ve been no documented instances of musicians taking issue with the Harris campaign using their music. Early in her campaign after replacing Joe Biden, the vice-president got permission from Beyoncé to use her 2016 song Freedom featuring Kendrick Lamar at both her first rally and as the official Harris-Walz campaign theme song.
Musicians appear more keen to lend their music to the Democratic side, as evidenced by an eclectic 52-song playlist pumped through speakers by Grammy-nominated DJ Cassidy during the delegate roll call vote to select Harris as nominee at the August convention.
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