Representatives of numerous artists complain that Trump used their music without permission at campaign events.
The Swedish pop group ABBA has asked the campaign team of US presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop playing their songs at his campaign events because they did not give permission for their use.
The band’s record label issued a statement Thursday after some of their best known songs, including “Dancing Queen,” “Money, Money, Money” and “The Winner Takes It All,” were played at a Trump rally in Minnesota last month.
“Together with the members of ABBA, we discovered that videos were published in which ABBA’s music was used at Trump events and we have therefore requested that this use be immediately removed and taken off the internet,” record label Universal Music said in a press release.
This is not the first time that famous artists have complained about the unauthorized use of their works at Trump’s political events. The family of soul and funk artist Isaac Hayes threatened Trump with legal action earlier this month over the unauthorized use of the musician’s songs.
In July, a journalist from the Swedish media Svenska Dagbladet reported that “The Winner Takes It All” was played during a Trump campaign rally in Minnesota, and that a ten-minute video clip of ABBA performing some of their best known songs was projected onto a large screen afterwards.
In March, the estate of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor also asked Trump to stop using the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” by the singer, who is known for being rebellious, at campaign events.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinead would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted if her work had been misrepresented in this way by someone she herself described as a ‘biblical devil.’ As custodians of her legacy, we call on Donald Trump and his associates to immediately refrain from using her music,” O’Connor’s estate and record label said at the time in a joint statement.
Over the years, famous pop singers such as Tom Petty, Adele, REM and Celine Dion have expressed similar complaints.
Earlier this month, Trump also shared fake AI images purporting to show megastar Taylor Swift promoting him on social media.
