The Swedish pop group ABBA has told the campaign of US presidential candidate Donald Trump to stop playing its songs at his campaign events, stating that they did not grant permission for their use.
The band’s record label issued a statement on Thursday after a number of their most famous songs, including Dancing Queen, Money, Money, Money, and The Winner Takes It All were played at a Trump rally in Minnesota last month.
“Together with the members of ABBA, we have discovered that videos have been released where ABBA’s music has been used at Trump events, and we have therefore requested that such use be immediately removed and taken down,” record label Universal Music said in a news release.
It is not the first time that famous artists have taken issue with their work being used at Trump’s political events without permission. The family of soul and funk artist Isaac Hayes threatened Trump with legal action earlier this month over the unauthorised use of the musician’s songs.
In July, a journalist with the Swedish outlet Svenska Dagbladet reported that The Winner Takes It All had been played during a Trump campaign event in Minnesota, with a 10-minute video clip of ABBA performing some of their most famous songs projected onto a large screen afterwards.
In March, the estate of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor also asked Trump to stop using the famously rebellious singer’s Nothing Compares 2 U” at campaign events.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinead would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil.’ As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately,” a joint statement from O’Connor’s estate and record label said at the time.
Over the years, famous crooners such as Tom Petty, Adele, REM, and Celine Dion have voiced similar complaints.
Earlier this month, Trump also shared fake AI images purporting to show megastar Taylor Swift endorsing him on social media.
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