Not only would no self-respecting musician show up to play for Trump during his inauguration, none of them want their music played for his rabid fanbase during his political rallies. Neil Young, Pharrell, and Axl Rose have all asked that he stop using their music, but he continues to do so.
It isn’t just that music artists don’t want their art used without their permission, although that’s certainly an issue. None of them want to be associated with Trump and his racist, xenophobic, sexist bully rallies. Trump supporters complain and insist that these artists are alienating their fan bases without ever realizing that the president of the United States is alienating Americans.
Axl Rose is certainly not the first artist to make this request:
‘Artists who are alive and still doing it (Earth, Wind & Fire) to those who aren’t as active (Neil Young) to those who are no longer with us (Luciano Pavarotti + George Harrison) all issued statements calling for Donald J. Trump to stop using their beloved music—and we agree. Trump has a host of other white classic rock bands to use at his future rallies, so we are highlighting the pile of artists who have issues with their songs being tied to his campaign.’
That list also includes The Rolling Stones, The O’Jays, Adele, R.E.M., Free, Queen, Elton John, Aerosmith, and Twisted Sister.
Perhaps Trump’s supporters, if the artists who want to distance themselves from Trump so offends them, could boycott their music. After all, that’s worked out well for Nike, Keurig, Starbucks, and the cast of Hamilton.
Fans were quick to respond to Rose’s tweet. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Raph_PH under a Creative Commons license
