Foo Fighters Deny Letting Donald Trump Use Their Song at RFK Jr. Rally

Foo Fighters has denied allowing former President Donald Trump to use their song at a rally with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday night.
At a press conference on Friday, Kennedy Jr. announced he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing Donald Trump. “In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory,” Kennedy said. “I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving, when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.”
Later that day, Trump invited RFK Jr. onstage during a rally in Arizona, with Kennedy joining Trump onstage to the Foo Fighters’ anthem “My Hero.”
But the rock band has denied ever allowing the Trump campaign to use its song, offering just one word to X user @WUTangKids when asked if the band let Trump use “My Hero” for RFK Jr.’s introduction.
“No,” replied the band, whose founder Dave Grohl has previously referred to Trump as a “massive jerk.”
The band later shared a screenshot of the response to their main account, adding, “Let us be clear.”
A spokesperson for the band told Billboard: “Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it.” The spokesperson said that “appropriate actions are being taken” against the campaign and that any royalties received as a result of the usage of the song will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.
However, in a statement shared with Newsweek, the Trump campaign denied that the song was played without permission. “We have a license to play the song. The Foo Fighters or their spokesperson have no idea what they are talking about and engaging in faux outrage,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said.
Newsweek has contacted the Foo Fighters for comment via Instagram.
This marks the second time this week—and the third time this month—that Trump’s campaign has clashed with artists for using their music without permission.
Earlier this week, Beyoncé’s record label and music publisher sent a cease-and-desist notice to Trump’s campaign over its use of her song “Freedom” in a 13-second video posted to Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung’s X account showing the former president stepping off a plane. The post was later deleted.
Kamala Harris had already been using the song with permission for weeks.
That followed lawyers for the Isaac Hayes estate filing a notice of copyright infringement and threatening legal action against the Trump campaign over its use of Hayes’ “Hold On, I’m Coming” at multiple Trump rallies without authorization between 2022 and 2024.
Meanwhile, other artists have also taken steps to stop Trump from using their music at his rallies, including Céline Dion, who earlier this month spoke out against the use of her song “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in Montana.
“Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana,” a statement posted to Dion’s X account read.
“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement added, finishing with a question for the Trump campaign: “…And really, THAT song?”
Acts including Adele, Neil Young, the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, as well as Johnny Marr, Sinéad O’Connor, Pharrell Williams, and the estates of Tom Petty, Prince and David Bowie have also objected to Trump’s use of their music at rallies.
“The unauthorized use of songs during rallies or in political campaigns is extremely concerning to artists as it can be misconstrued as an artist’s support of a candidate and their positions,” Larry Iser, Managing Partner at KHIKS law firm, told Newsweek last week.
He added that when political campaigns use artists’ songs without permission, their lawyers should send a letter to the rally organizers warning them that it is “not OK to use the songs.”
“Artists should write to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) or the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to have them remove their song. They should also have their legal representatives send cease and desist letters to the political organizations, urging immediate action and thus, informing them of legal consequences should they not comply.”
“It is also worth publicizing such actions on social media, for public reach,” he said.
Iser said that artists should also “consider suing the campaign for the right of publicity and false endorsement under the Lanham Act,” which is designed to stop intellectual property theft.
Update on 08/24/2024 at 09:45 E.T.: This story was updated with comment from Trump’s campaign.