Foo Fighters take action over Donald Trump's use of My Hero at rally – and they'll donate royalties to his opponent Kamala Harris

News
By ( Louder ) published

Donald Trump's campaign used Foo Fighters song at a rally without getting their permission

Dave Grohl, Josh Freese, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, and Nate Mendel of Foo Fighters attend the Power to the Patients Foo Fighters concert advocating for healthcare price transparency at The Anthem on March 05, 2024 in Washington, DC.
(Image credit: Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Swift River Productions)

Foo Fighters are taking legal action against US Presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign after it used one of the band's songs at a recent public event.

Trump's campaign played the Foos song My Hero as the Republic Party candidate welcomed guest speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr to the stage at a rally in Glendale, Arizona on Friday, August 23.

According to representatives of the band, the campaign did not ask for permission to do so and as a result, they will take action against the campaign and donate any damages they might be awarded to the campaign of Trump's rival, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

A spokesperson for the band tells Billboard: "Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,” adding that “appropriate actions are being taken” and any royalties received would be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.

The Foo Fighters X (formerly Twitter) account responded firmly when asked if they had given Trump permission – simply saying "No" before re-tweeting the question and adding "Let us be clear."

The 2024 United States presidential election will be held in November, when the USA will elect its 47th President.

Trump, who previously served as the nation's 45th President from 2016-2020, is currently behind in the polls to Harris, who is the current Vice President to Joe Biden, who will not stand for re-election in November.

The Foo Fighters are far from the first group to demand that Trump refrain from using their music as part of his political campaigning. Previously, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Aerosmith, The Smiths, Queen and others have slammed Trump for using their work without permission.

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.