Donald Trump: Abba prohibits him from using their music

DER SPIEGEL Donald Trump: Abba prohibits him from using their music 1 hour • 2 minutes reading time At the end of July, the Abba hits "The Winner Takes It All", "Money, Money, Money" and "Dancing Queen" were played in the US Republican election campaign. The band and their record company are fighting back. They are by no means the first. The Swedish pop group Abba has asked US presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop using their music and videos at his campaign events. The band's record company announced this. Previously, the Abba hits "The Winner Takes It All", "Money, Money, Money" and "Dancing Queen" were played at a Trump rally on July 27 in Minnesota. Videos were also shown. The Republican candidate for vice president, J.D. Vance, was also present at the event. A reporter from the Swedish daily newspaper "Svenska Dagbladet" reported on the campaign event and alerted the band to it. The statement from the record company Universal continued: "Together with the members of Abba, we discovered that videos had been published in which Abba music was used at Trump events. We have therefore insisted that these be removed immediately and that use be stopped." The Trump campaign was not granted any permission or license. The members of the band did not want to comment further, a spokesman for the Reuters news agency said. However, they fully support Universal's statement. The Trump campaign has not yet commented on the incidents. This is not the first time that musicians have opposed their songs being used in Donald Trump's election campaign. Just a few days ago, a Trump spokesman shared a video in which the song "Freedom" by Beyoncé could be heard. The singer had expressly allowed the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, to use the video for campaign advertising and performances. Rolling Stone reported that Beyoncé had threatened to issue a cease-and-desist letter. It is unclear whether this was actually sent. The video was later deleted. There are many more cases: In fact, this list reads like a who's who of pop music. Most recently, it was the Foo Fighters who prohibited the Republican from using their song "My Hero." Before that, Céline Dion complained that Trump's "My Heart Will Go On" was played. Johnny Marr of the Smiths and the heirs of Sinéad O'Connor also protested against the use of music in the election campaign. Artists Rihanna, Neil Young, Linkin Park, the heirs of Tom Petty, Stephen Tyler of Aerosmith, Adele, R.E.M., Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins and Everlast made similar statements. Read more about the use of music in the election campaign here.