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Dead singer’s estate demands ‘biblical devil’ Trump stop using her songs at rallies

March 5, 2024 | | Print Article

Another musical artist has been added to the list of those demanding former President Donald Trump not use their songs at his rallies.

This time, it is the estate of the late singer Sinéad O’Connor who once called the former president a “biblical devil.” The Irish songwriter and activist passed away in 2023 at the age of 56 but her estate and her record label are speaking for her and demanding that Trump “desist from using her music immediately.”

“Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness and decency towards her fellow human beings,” read the statement issued Monday by O’Connor’s estate and label, Chrysalis Records.

It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his political rallies,” the statement continued, referring to O’Connor’s iconic 1990 hit that was originally written by Prince and was nominated for three Grammy Awards.

Variety reported that Trump “most recently played the song” at campaign events held 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 whom she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil,'” the statement continued.

“As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately,” it concluded.

In an interview with Hot Press in 2020, O’Connor’s scorn for Trump was evident as she expressed, ” really do believe Donald Trump is the biblical devil.”

“Nobody should think he’s doing this just so he can get elected,” she said at the time. “He is devilish enough that he believes in this stuff. They should have dragged him out of the White House at the point he separated the first child from their parents at the Mexican border.”

O’Connor’s name joins a long list of other disgruntled artists who have demanded the former president not use their music at his events as if regular Americans are not smart enough to understand the songs are not necessarily indicating an endorsement.

According to CNN:

In 2020, the Rolling Stones threatened legal action against Trump’s campaign for using their music at his campaign rallies, and Tom Petty’s family issued a cease-and-desist notice to the Trump campaign after “I Won’t Back Down” was played at a rally. R.E.M. and Linkin Park also complained about Trump incorporating their songs during his 2020 campaign.

In 2016, Adele told the Republican politician that he didn’t have permission to use her music, while in 2018 Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler ordered his attorney to send a cease-and-desist letter to Trump’s campaign over the use of the classic hit “Dream On.”

 

Other anti-Trump artists who have spoken out include Neil Young (“Rockin’ In The Free World”), Elton John (“Rocketman”), and Queen (“We Are The Champions”).

Johnny Marr of the Smiths reacted on social media over Trump playing “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.”

“I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass,” Marr wrote. “Consider this sh*t shut right down right now.”

While Trump critics celebrated the O’Connor estate calling him out for using her song, many X users had a different view.

Frieda Powers
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