Foo Fighters support Kamala Harris after Donald Trump plays ‘My Hero’ at rally
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump played the Foo Fighters’ track ‘My Hero’ onstage during a rally in Arizona, the Dave Grohl-fronted band have formally endorsed Kamala Harris. Trump played the classic track while inviting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage.
In the days that followed the Arizona rally on August 23rd, Foo Fighters affirmed multiple times that they had not granted permission for the Trump campaign to use the 1998 song ‘My Hero’ in any capacity. A representative for the band announced, “Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would have not granted it.”
Conversely, the Trump campaign has since come out claiming that they, in fact, did have the permission of the band to use the song. Steven Cheung, the campaign spokesman for Trump, told The Hill, via email, that the campaign does “have a licence to play the song.” Reportedly, documents pertaining to the matter have been seen by The Independent, and allegedly confirm Cheun’s claims.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the campaign manager responded to the Foo Fighters’ claims by sharing a screenshot of The Independent article, accompanied by the caption, “It’s Times Like These facts matter, don’t be a Pretender.” At present, Foo Fighters have not responded to these claims.
Nevertheless, the Trump campaign seems to have shot itself in the foot with this incident, and not for the first time. By using the Foo Fighters track, the Republican candidate has essentially forced the band to come out in support of Kamala Harris, whereas they might have stayed quite otherwise.
Not only have they announced their support for Harris, but Foo Fighters have also confirmed they will be donating all royalties from the song to the Democratic campaign, which could likely lead to a renewed popularity in ‘My Hero.’
This is certainly not the first time Trump has come under fire for his musical choices or affiliations. Recently, the estate of Issac Hayes threatened to sue the campaign for its repeated use of his composition, ‘Hold On, I’m Coming’. Beyoncé also threatened legal action against the Trump campaign earlier this month, after they published a video using her track ‘Freedom’, which has since been removed.
Musicians who have endorsed Kamala Harris
Foo Fighters are not the only musicians to come out in support of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris since current President Joe Biden stepped down from the race in July. Most famously, Charli XCX derisively announced “Kamala IS Brat”, in reference to her summer-defining album of the same name.
Everybody from Carole King to Bon Iver has announced their endorsement of Harris’ campaign. Beyoncé even granted the Democrat permission to use the track ‘Freedom’, which had previously been refused for Trump.
While Taylor Swift has not yet formally endorsed Harris, Trump recently shared AI-generated images of Swift allegedly endorsing himself, which, it is thought, may play a role in Swift coming out in support of Harris.
Additionally, legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor was supposed to play at the Democratic National Convention last week, but due to time constraints, the plug was pulled on his performance.
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