Donald Trump is guilty of many crimes (at least 34, to be exact), and one of them is his questionable taste in music. We say questionable, not bad, because while the song choices at his campaign rallies are often fine in themselves, the former president has a nasty habit of playing them without the permission of the respective copyright holders. The latest example: He was just hit with a cease-and-desist letter from the estate of Isaac Hayes demanding that Trump stop playing “Hold On, I’m Coming” immediately—and demanding $3 million to make up for all the times he’s played the song so far.
Atlanta-based attorney James Walker sent the strongly worded Aug. 11 letter criticizing Trump and his campaign for playing the Stax Records classic “without the copyright holder’s permission,” “despite our client’s repeated requests that they refrain from such illegal use.” The complaint includes an appendix with a “non-exhaustive list” of “over a hundred times” Trump has played “Hold On, I’m Coming” at his rallies since 2022, and notes, “As of the time we were writing this letter, there was another use in Montana just two nights ago, despite your office apparently being aware that you did not have permission.” (Read a Rolling Stone Report from this rally in Montana, where the Cats Song “Memory” here.)
The musician’s son, Isaac Hayes III, condemned the Trump campaign on X, writing: “Donald Trump is the worst representative of his integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and racist rhetoric. We will take care of this very quickly now.”
Hayes, who died in 2008, wrote “Hold On, I’m Coming” with his long-time writing partner David Porter. It was recorded by Stax duo Sam & Dave, who took it to the top of the BillboardIt hit the R&B charts in 1966, making it one of the most popular hits in soul music history. Politicians have tried to use the song before and gotten into trouble — in 2008, there was even a brief dispute between the duo’s Sam Moore and then-candidate Barack Obama over its use. (They later settled it.) Hayes and his estate have also challenged other politicians over the use of songs he wrote. It’s pretty clear that they really don’t want candidates to use his music for political purposes, but Trump keeps doing it anyway. It’s kind of his thing.
Trump has made the unauthorized use of popular music one of the hallmarks of his political career. Just last week, Celine Dion asked him to stop playing “My Heart Will Go On.” In the past, he has received similar complaints for using songs by Tom Petty, Rihanna, the Rolling Stones, the Village People, John Fogerty, Aerosmith, Linkin Park, Journey and others. When it comes to music copyright, as well as many other areas, he seems to believe he is above the law.
The letter from Hayes’ successors goes on to say that Trump’s demand to pay $3 million for all of these unauthorized reproductions is actually “a very small amount than the normal royalty fee for so many multiple uses. The normal fee for these violations will be ten times as high if we sue, starting at $150,000 per use.”
The estate is demanding a response from Trump by August 16, five days after the date of the letter. After that, they say, the matter will go to court.
