These Musicians Said No To Politicians Using Their Songs On The Campaign Trail

Scott Croker | September 20, 2018 7:38 pm

Presidential and gubernatorial hopefuls love nothing more than finding the perfect campaign song to pump up their fan base and ride the wave to the voting booth. The songs need to be upbeat, catchy, and most importantly patriotic. And if history has told us anything, the artist needs to say "yes," which is much harder than it sounds. You'd think Bruce Springsteen would be ecstatic to hear his music at Republican or Democratic rallies but he's not. For the story on why "Born in the USA" is a big no-no, as well as other songs, you'll have to follow along.

The Dropkick Murphys Asked Scott Walker To Ship His Way Out Of Boston

David A. Smith/Getty Images
David A. Smith/Getty Images

East Coast punk band Dropkick Murphys is best known for the Massachusetts' anthem "I'm Shipping Up To Boston." When Wisconsin governor Scott Walker walked out to the song at a rally in Iowa for Presidential hopefuls, the band was disgusted. Using Twitter, they let Walker know, "we literally hate you!"

The band asked that the song not be used by the politician again, as well as any others of theirs. According to their lead singer, there are "certain events or people" they don't want to be associated with. Maybe if the song was about Iowa it would have been a different story.

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Heart Told Sarah Palin She Wasn't a Barracuda

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Mat Hayward/WireImage via Getty Images
Mat Hayward/WireImage via Getty Images
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In her high school years, Sarah Palin was known as "Sarah Barracuda." When she was chosen as a possible Vice President during the 2008 election, she chose the song "Barracuda" by Heart to be her rally music. When the band got wind of her using their song, she was told to stop.

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Palin refused to give in. She claimed that she had a blanket license for the song from ASCAP and was entitled to use as she saw fit. Heart lost the battle, but the war never stopped raging in their chests. Palin also never became Vice President of the United States.

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John Mellencamp Has Told Three Candidates No In The Past

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Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame
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Few rockers capture the spirit of America's heartland more than John Mellencamp. Two of his songs, in particular, have been hot commodities for politicians over the years; "Pink House," and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." The Reagan presidential campaign first tried to to use "Pink Houses" in 1984, and was told "no."

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George Bush tried to use "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." 16 years later and got the same answer. Finally, John McCain used several Mellancamp songs during his 2008 campaign including "Pink Houses" until he was told to stop by the artist.

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Aerosmith Stopped Trump From Dreaming On

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Aerosmith sent the Donald Trump campaign a cease and desist letter when the President began using their song "Dream On" on the campaign trail. Trump fought back, saying he had a blanket license and had every right to use the song.

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Not ready to back down, Aerosmith's legal team worked to get the band removed from the blanket license. Once they were successful, Trump was forced to stop using the classic rock anthem to energize his supporters. It didn't end up being a setback, Trump had a stable of other songs he was able to to choose from.

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Bobby McFerrin Wanted At Least One Politician To Worry And Not Be Happy

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When the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" plays on the radio, it's stuck in your head the rest of the day. George Bush was banking on this when he used the tune as his campaign theme in 1988. Singer Bobby Mcferrin was not overjoyed to have it used as a political tool.

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To make things right with McFerrin, Bush invited him to his house for dinner. McFerrin politely declined, proving that although the song had a positive message, it wasn't meant that way for everyone.

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Boston Has Much More Than a Feeling Towards Mike Huckabee In 2008

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Larry Marano/Getty Images
Larry Marano/Getty Images
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The campaign trail was on fire with musical controversy in 2008. You know about Heart already, but do you remember the band Boston blowing up at presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee for using their romantic anthem "More Than A Feeling?"

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At one on his rallies, Huckabee grabbed a bass guitar and played the song. It was a great way to to show his fans he was a political rock star. It was also a great way to get Boston's lead singer to write, "Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for."

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Twisted Sister Didn't Take Paul Ryan Or Donald Trump Using Their '80s Rock Anthem

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Twisted Sister had one of the biggest rock tracks in the '80s with the rebellious rocker, "We're Not Gonna Take It." Lead singer Dee Snider never could have imagined two decades later Paul Ryan and Donald Trump would try and use the song to spark political rebellion.

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Ryan used the song first, but stopped after receiving backlash from the band. As his campaign told Politico, "we're not gonna play it anymore." When Trump then commandeered the song, Snider (a friend of his), asked him behind closed doors not to.

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Bruce Springsteen Slammed Several Politicians Over The Use Of "Born In The U.S.A."

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM
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There's a reason Bruce Springsteen is known as "The Boss." On three separate occasions, the singer has had to tell politicians not to use his song "Born in the U.S.A." to campaign with. The song was written about a disgruntled veteran coming home from Vietnam and is not nearly as patriotic as the chorus makes it sound.

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The first politician to misuse the song was Ronald Reagan in 1984. Friends close to Springsteen say this was the moment he had a "progressive awakening." After that, Bob Dole used the anthem, followed by Pat Buchanan.

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Survivor Sued Over Use Of "Eye Of The Tiger"

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Mike Huckabee found himself in the eye of the storm when he used the song "Eye of the Tiger" during one of his presidential runs. The track by Survivor is best remembered as the theme song from the Rocky movie franchise. The band sued, and Huckabee was forced to pay them $25,000.

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Newt Gingrich tested the waters during his 2012 run and found them just as choppy, resulting in another lawsuit from the band. They won again, but this time the amount of money was undisclosed. We wonder how they would react if Stallone ran for president?

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Sting Refused To Let Al Gore and George Bush See a Brand New Day

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Legendary musician Sting had a big problem on his hands when both George Bush and Al Gore wanted to use his song, "Brand New Day" as their campaign themes. Allowing one to, and not the other, would have shown political preference, something the human right activist may have been purposely avoiding.

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When Sting had to make his decision, he said no to both presidential hopefuls. Al Gore would go on to win the popular vote while Bush won the electoral vote (even after a recount) and became Bill Clinton's successor in the White House.

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The Silversun Pickups Wouldn't Even Let Mitt Romney Use Their Music While Setting Up Rallies

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The Silversun Pickups used a major power play to try and stop Mitt Romney from using their music. While setting up one of his rallies, the crew reportedly played the song "Panic Switch." This was a big no-no for the band, who demanded Romney to stop.

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In response, Romney's campaign informed the Silversun Pickups that they had the appropriate rights to play the song. In spite of the this, the campaign stopped playing Silversun Pickups songs, conceding to the bands wishes.

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Sam and Dave Asked Obama To Hold On and Stop

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Sam Moore asked former president Barack Obama to stop using his bands song "Hold On I'm Coming" during his 2008 campaign. The singer said he made the request so it wouldn't look like he or his partner endorsed any candidate.

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The Obama campaign agreed to stop using the song, and losing the track didn't end up hurting the presidential hopeful. He beat John McCain in a historic election that made him the first black President of the United States.

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MGMT Took Issue With Nicolas Sarkozy Using "Kids"

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Chiaki Nozu/WireImage
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It's not just American politicians who get told they can't use popular songs. The band MGMT wasn't thrilled when French President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP Party began using their song "Kids" without asking. The band threatened legal action against the political party, who had no choice but to pay up.

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Luckily for MGMT, the UMP Party admitted they made a mistake. They ended up paying the band $40,000 for misusing their song and stopped using it at future events. That's a pretty good payday for MGMT!

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Elton John Has Tried To Separate Himself From Trump

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When Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, Elton John asked that he not using any of his music at his rallies. Trump denied John the request and still plays the singer's tunes at events today. His favorite to play is "Tiny Dancer," one of the John's most iconic tunes.

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Trump says his preference to keep his music non-political has nothing to do with Trump, who was "very nice" to the icon when they met. John also reinforced that , "I don't really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign."

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Explosions In The Sky Won The Copyright Battle Against Ted Cruz

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You might not recognize the name Explosions in the Sky, but you've definitely heard their music. The band scored the film Friday Night Lights, and the track "Your Hand in Mine" from the film has become a classic. In 2016, Ted Cruz tried to ride the emotion of the song to a presidential victory.

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The band said no, claiming he didn't have the copyright to play the song. It turned out the band was right, and Cruz was forced to stop using the song.

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Al Green Almost Won His War Against Mitt Romney

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Jeff Golden/WireImage via Getty Images
Jeff Golden/WireImage via Getty Images
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Mitt Romney found himself in hot water when he used Al Green's hit song "Let's Stay Together" for a campaign ad. In the ad, Barack Obama was shown singing the track. Green's camp filed a copyright infringement complaint against Romney, who had the video taken down from YouTube.

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The take down didn't last, though, and Romney's team put the video back up. In their defense, they cited "fair use." There was nothing else Al Green could do at that point besides accepting defeat after a well fought battle.

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Bon Jovi Didn't Let John McCain Go Home

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Bon Jovi wasn't thrilled with presidential hopeful John McCain when he began using the track "Who Says You Can't Go Home" during his campaign. Jon Bon Jovi supported Barack Obama in 2008 and publicly stated his disdain for the song being used.

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McCain's camp was undeterred, saying they had the proper clearance for Bon Jovi songs, as well as track from the Foo Fighters and Heart. The New Jersey rockers didn't fight back, but continued to make it clear to their fans they were not happy about it.

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Talking Heads Got An Apology From Charlie Crist

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Charlie Crist hurt his chances of becoming Florida's senator in 2010 when Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne sued him for using the song "Road to Nowhere." Byrne asked for one million dollars in damages after seeing the song in a campaign slamming Marco Rubio.

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Crist lost his case, agreeing to pay Byrne an undisclosed amount of money. On top of that, the politician issued a public apology on YouTube. After the case was over, Byrne said, "My hope is that by standing up to this practice maybe it can be made to be a less common option."

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Journey Put An End To Newt Gingrich's Presidential Run

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Newt Gingrich thought he had the support of the world when he used Journey's classic song "Don't Stop Believin'" to open a rally in 2011. Former Journey lead singer Steve Perry didn't support the Republican, though, and sent his a cease and desist letter.

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Perry then went on record saying, "They just think music is free like a lot of other people on the planet." Gingrich stopped using the song, and less than a year later dropped out of the presidential race entirely.

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Katrina and the Waves Sank Michelle Bachmann

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Ebet Roberts/Redferns via Getty Images
Ebet Roberts/Redferns via Getty Images
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Michelle Bachmann was "Walking on Sunshine" in 2011 when she began using the hit song by Katarina and the Waves. When the band found out, they made sure to bring storm clouds with them. Lead singer Katrina Leskanich wrote on the band's website, "If I disagree with the policies, opinions or platforms for [my song's] use, I've no choice but to try and defend the song and prevent its misuse."

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Unable to use the track, Bachmann's team turned to Ted Nugent, who proudly let her use his song, "Stranglehold" and called her a true American with contagious beauty.