Drug mogul Shkreli will release unheard Nirvana, Beatles tracks if Trump elected

Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli

Drug mogul Martin Shkreli says he’ll release unheard material from the Beatles, Nirvana and Wu-Tang Clan if Donald Trump becomes US president in the coming weeks.

Shkreli hit the headlines in 2015 when his firm Turing Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to Daraprim, a drug used to treat AIDS patients, and raised the price by 5000% from $13.50 (£8.79) to $750 (£488) a pill.

He famously purchased the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s double album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin at auction in 2015 for $2 million. And along with announcing his plans to publish previously unreleased material on Twitter – he also suggests he could destroy the Wu-Tang album if Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton clinches the presidential nomination.

Shkreli says: “If Trump wins, my entire unreleased music collection, including unheard Nirvana, Beatles, and of course, Wu-Tang, comes out, for free.”

When a member of the public suggests he should release Once Upon A Time In Shaolin should Clinton win, Shkreli responds: “Or break it.”

In January, Shkreli and Wu-Tang’s Ghostface Killah had a public spat after Killah called him out about making a profit from the AIDS drug.

Shkreli responded: “If you ever say some dumb shit again, this album, this Shaolin, I’m gonna erase all your shit from this album.

“I’m gonna erase you from the record books of rap. You’re gonna be done. You’re my son. You have to listen to me. I butter your bread. You understand me? Without me, you’re nothing.

“Don’t ever fucking mention my name again, or there’ll be more of a price to pay than just this video.”

Earlier this year, Shkreli said he backed Trump then wrote off the endorsement saying he’d “abstain in protest.”

Shkreli was formerly a silent partner in Collect Records, the label owned by No Devotion frontman Geoff Rickly. When the Daraprim news broke, Rickly quickly cut all ties with Shkreli and said he was completely “blindsided” by his former partner’s actions.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.