All the Artists Who Don’t Want Donald Trump Using Their Music

Taylor Swift didn’t publicly comment when Trump’s campaign team and the White House used her songs from her then-new release The Life of a Showgirl on their official TikTok pages in the fall of 2025. However, in August 2026, she joined Bad Bunny in quietly removing “August” from a video captioned with an overt provocation: “I’m sure Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song.” The superstar also seemed to remove the previously used tracks from a handful of videos that the Trump administration had posted. —M.G.

Bad Bunny has long been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. But when the White House’s official TikTok account posted a tone-deaf, video celebrating deportations set to the Puerto Rican superstar’s “La Mudanza,” Benito quietly removed the audio from that specific video without comment. It was a clever playbook that inspired Taylor Swift to take a similar action days later. —M.G.

Noah Kahan was not happy when the official White House Instagram account posted photos of the president’s July 2026 visit to General Motors’ flagship test site in Michigan and set them to Kahan’s “American Cars.” “Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration,” Kahan wrote in a comment on the post. When reached for comment by RS, a White House spokesperson referred to a tweet by Kaelan Dorr, deputy assistant to the president and White House deputy communications director, that said, “Symptoms of TDS apparently include having a northern attitude,” referencing Kahan’s popular song. —M.G.

Ariana Grande rebuked the Trump administration in June 2026 after the White House used her 2024 song “Bye” in an TikTok video depicting federal ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people. “Please do not ever use my music ⁠in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” she wrote in a comment under the post that has since been deleted. At the time, a spokesperson for Grande confirmed to Rolling Stone that the singer, in fact, was behind the comment. In a statement to RS responding ​to Grande, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “We’ll say this one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”—M.G.

In June 2026, Katy Perry slammed the Trump administration after the White House’s TikTok account used her hit “Firework” on a video of military strikes. “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the White House TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes,” the singer wrote on X. “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.” —M.G.

Olivia Rodrigo was quick to shut it down when the official Instagram account for the Department of Homeland Security posted a video that used her song “All-American Bitch” against clips of ICE agents detaining undocumented immigrants with the caption “If ICE finds you.” In a since-deleted comment (although it’s unclear if it was removed by Rodrigo or DHS), the musician wrote, “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.” The song does no longer appears on the video. —M.G.

Sabrina Carpenter called out the administration after the White House used her song “Juno” in a social media video featuring ICE agents carrying out arrests. “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the singer wrote on X. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” —M.G.

Kenny Loggins requested that his song “Danger Zone” be removed from an apparently AI-generated video that showed Trump dumping shit on people participating in the Oct. 18 “No Kings” protests. The clip was ostensibly created by a Trump meme page called @xerias_x, and it was later shared by Trump on Truth Social. In the video, an AI version of Trump, wearing a crown and piloting a military fighter jet emblazoned with “King Trump,” dumps what sure looks like a ton of feces on the protesters.

Loggins called the use of “Danger Zone” in the video “unauthorized,” adding: “Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.”

The singer-songwriter continued: “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ — that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.” —J.B.

While most complaints have focused on music played at Trump rallies, Beyoncé and her team issued a cease-and-desist letter after a Trump campaign spokesperson used her song “Freedom” in a short video shared online. The clip paired the Lemonade track with a 13-second clip of Trump getting off an airplane — a pretty pointed choice as “Freedom” has become an unofficial anthem of sorts for the Kamala Harris campaign. While Beyoncé did give the Harris campaign permission to use the song, a source close to the musician told Rolling Stone they “absolutely did not give permission” to Trump campaign, and that Bey’s label had threatened to issue a cease and desist. —J.B.

Céline Dion was not happy when Donald Trump used her Titanic classic “My Heart Will Go On” at a recent campaign rally. “And really, THAT song?” she wrote on social media when she learned he’d been playing the hit. The Canadian star’s team issued a statement on Aug. 10 slamming the former president for “unauthorized usage” of the track from the Nineties film. “Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement from Dion’s team said.

The family of James Horner, the song’s composer who died in 2015, also said in a statement that “the Horner family does not endorse or support the Trump/Vance campaign or its use of the song at its events. The campaign does not reflect the beliefs and values of James Horner or his family. It is important to the family that his music not be used by those seeking to profit inappropriately from his work after his death.” —T.M.

The family of late soul singer Isaac Hayes wants to stop Trump from playing the hit “Hold On, I’m Comin’” at rallies and events, including at an NRA convention. Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, shared that they planned to file a lawsuit after learning that the Trump team has used the song about 135 times without licensing the song or asking for permission. “I was pissed,” Hayes told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s just been a mass shooting. So why are we using it at the NRA convention? I wanted to take legal action because Trump has made statements against women, and here is a man who has been convicted of sexual abuse. I’m a brother to seven sisters, and I don’t want anybody to think of ‘Hold On’ and think of Donald Trump.” —J.L.

Since its release on 2003’s Elephant, the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” has been sung and chanted at countless sporting events around the world. It’s as close as you can get to a universal jock jam like “We Will Rock You” — but that doesn’t mean Jack White is cool with someone like Trump using it. When MAGA campaign flack Margo Martin shared a video of the candidate boarding a plane to that iconic riff, White snapped back. “Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” he wrote.  “Lawsuit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others).” We assume that applies to the pretty dang awesome new album he released this summer, too. —S.V.L.

Sinead O’Connor’s estate quickly shut Trump down when he started using the late singer’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U” at his rallies in Maryland and North Carolina. “It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt, and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil,’” O’Connor’s estate representatives shared in a statement to Variety. “As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately.” —J.L.

Trump angered the Foo Fighters when “My Hero” started playing at a rally in Arizona in August. The song came on just as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined the former president onstage to announce he was ending his campaign and endorsing Trump. Asked via social media if they had approved this, the band replied “No.” A rep for the band later confirmed that the Foo Fighters didn’t give Trump permission to use the song, and added that royalties from its use at the event would be donated to the Harris-Walz campaign. —D.K.

While the Smiths might seem wildly out of place at a Trump rally, the camp certainly tried it. In early 2024, multiple political reporters took to Twitter to share how the hopelessly desperate “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” was making its rounds with MAGA folks. Founding guitarist and the song’s writer, Johnny Marr, immediately responded when he quote-tweeted a video saying, “Ahh … right … OK. I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass. Consider this shit shut right down right now.” —M.G.

More than 40 years after ABBA disbanded, their music is still everywhere, whether you’re catching their high-tech hologram residency or rewatching the 2008 cinematic classic Mamma Mia! — or, apparently, if you’re in the audience at a Trump rally. At a July 27 event in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Trump’s campaign played several ABBA hits (“Dancing Queen,” “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes It All”), and even showed video footage of the Swedish pop greats. Shock of shocks: They did not have permission for any of this, and Björn Ulvaeus and the group’s label have demanded that Trump stop immediately. —S.V.L.

Trump’s love of the Village People is well-documented. For years, he played  “Y.M.C.A.” and “Macho Man” at his rallies with little pushback from founding member Victor Willis. Willis finally changed his tune in June 2020 amid the uprising against racial injustice. Then, in May 2023, he sent Trump’s legal team a cease-and-desist letter after video emerged of the former president at Mar-a-Lago dancing along to “Macho Man” with a group dressed up like the Village People. Willis called the performance “unauthorized” and noted that “many fans, and the general public as well, mistakenly believe” the actual Village People delivered the performance. —J.B.

When Journey guitarist Neal Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter over a performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” he actually wasn’t targeting Trump so much as his bandmate Jonathan Cain. Cain had performed the 1981 hit at Mar-a-Lago in 2023, alongside backup singers that included Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake. In order to prevent similar moments, Schon filed the cease-and-desist, stating the use of Journey’s music at a Trump event was of “harmful use” to their brand. —J.B.

Neil Young’s spat with Trump dates back all the way to 2015, when Trump played “Rockin’ in the Free World” immediately after announcing his plan to run for president. Young, unsurprisingly, was not happy and repeatedly expressed his discontent when the song played at Trump rallies over the coming years. Eventually, in 2020, Young tried suing Trump, claiming he did not have a proper license to play his music at his rallies. But a few months later, the musician ultimately chose to voluntarily dismiss the complaint. —J.B.

The Rolling Stones made a pun out of one of their own song titles in 2020 when they told the Trump campaign to stop using their songs: “This could be the last time Trump uses any Jagger-Richards songs on his campaigns,” the band’s rep said at the time. Trump had been using “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” at rallies. Apparently, he wanted threats of legal action. —K.G.

Unsurprisingly, Trump — the son of a multimillionaire who got out of Vietnam due to supposed bone spurs — saw nothing ironic about playing John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” (“I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no”) at his campaign rallies in 2020. Fogerty and his lawyers immediately told him to stop via a cease-and-desist letter. “I wrote this song because, as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege,” Fogerty said. “I also wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes. Mr. Trump is a prime example of both of these issues.” —A.G.

The Florida rocker had a history of sending cease-and-desist letters to politicians using his music, including George W. Bush in 2000 (“I Won’t Back Down”) and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann in 2011 (“American Girl”). Three years after his death, his family spoke out about a certain Florida Man’s use of “I Won’t Back Down,” writing that Trump “was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind.” His family continued, “Tom wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE.… We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either.” Amen to that. —A.M.

MAGA energy was not in the air when Phil Collins made “In the Air Tonight.” The musician issued a cease-and-desist to Trump for usage of his 1981 single during the 2020 election. In the letter sent to Trump, Collins slammed the candidate for using the song “as a satirical reference to Covid-19” when Iowa was going through a spike in cases. “Mr. Collins does not condone the apparent trivialization of Covid-19,” the letter stated, adding that the musician had “serious concerns” that Trump’s usage would “damage” Collins’ reputation. —T.M.

Donald Trump was living on the edge of a lawsuit in 2018 when Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler felt it was necessary to send a cease-and-desist letter to the then-president’s campaign for using the song “Livin’ on the Edge.” This came three years after the band already told Trump to knock it off with playing “Dream On” at rallies. —K.G.

Just after Trump played Rihanna’s 2007 hit “Don’t Stop the Music” at a rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee, her team sent him a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action. “It has come to our attention that President Trump has utilized [Rihanna‘s] musical compositions and master recordings, including her hit track ‘Don’t Stop the Music,’ in connection with a number of political events held across the United States,” Rihanna’s legal team wrote in the letter. “As you are or should be aware, Ms. Fenty has not provided her consent to Mr. Trump to use her music. Such use is therefore improper.” —J.L.

Maybe if R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” didn’t come with the parenthetical “(And I Feel Fine),” they wouldn’t have complained about Trump using the song on the campaign trail in 2015. Regardless, all was not fine and Michael Stipe issued a stern rebuke to the Trump campaign for using the song: “Go fuck yourselves, the lot of you — you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.” —K.G.