I would venture to say that most musicians do not want their music played at Trump rallies. In fact, so many musicians and bands have fumed after hearing one of their songs at a MAGA event — George Harrison, Queen, REM, Tom Petty, Rhianna, Elton John, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few — that there's an entire Wikipedia page on the topic.
And now we can add The Smiths' Johnny Marr to the list.
"I never in a million years would've thought this could come to pass," Marr responded to a post on X by ABC reporter Soorin Kim (see below) that pointed out Trump's frequent use of The Smiths at his rallies. "Consider this shit shut right down right now."
Kim's post came a day after reporter Ben Jacobs posted, "As Trump is scheduled to take the stage in Laconia, the new addition to his pre rally music is The Smiths."
From Politico:
Donald Trump isn't known for his love of classic British guitar band The Smiths — even though they have a song called "Bigmouth Strikes Again" that could be an ideal soundtrack for his planned return to the White House.
But a Smiths song — "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" — was played at a Trump rally in Rapid City, South Dakota on Tuesday, and at other Trump rallies recently, including in Laconia, New Hampshire on Monday. …
This has happened to Marr before. In 2010, the guitarist called on then-U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to stop professing his love for the band. "Stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don't," he wrote on Twitter (as it was called then), adding: "I forbid you to like it."
And from Meidas Touch:
This is certainly not the first time musicians have been angered by Trump using their music without permission. Last year, the Village People sent Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina a Cease and Desist letter after I posted a viral clip of a look-a-like band performing at Mar-a-Lago. Several other artists have sent similar letters to Trump requesting that he stop using their music at his rallies, including Neil Young, Rihanna, Adele, and Elton John.
