ABBA Sends Trump Campaign a Cease and Desist Letter Over Use of Group’s Songs at Rallies
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! — a cease and desist letter.
Universal Music has ordered an official legal notice to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign due to their unauthorized use of ABBA songs to promote the former president’s candidacy in the 2024 election.
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A spokesperson for the group told Variety in a statement: “ABBA has recently discovered the unauthorized use of their music and videos at a Trump event through videos that appeared online. As a result, ABBA and its representative has promptly requested the removal and deletion of such content. No request has been received; therefore, no permission or license has been granted.”
Among the Swedish pop band’s hits, “The Winner Takes It All” and “Money, Money, Money” were played at a Trump rally in Minnesota July 27, according to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
ABBA is not the first music group to criticize Trump for employing their work in his campaign. Both Celine Dion and Foo Fighters have publicly rejected the playing of “My Heart Will Go On” and “My Hero” at rallies, respectively. An artist’s ability to stop such songs from being played at political rallies is often subject to debate, but the Rolling Stones and others have threatened legal action against the Trump campaign in the past, which usually puts an end to the use of a specific song or artist.
The Trump campaign had not commented on ABBA’s statement at the time of this article’s publication.
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