Neil Young, USA News (Washington DC): Rockstar Neil Young and Donald Trump are at it again. For the second time, the two aged icons are clashing over the President’s use of Young’s much-beloved music during a campaign rally, with the aggrieved troubadour demanding $10m (£7.5m) in damages.
This time around, the venue was Youngstown, Ohio, where the rock veteran’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” was included in the warm-up music ahead of Trump’s appearance on 12 October. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Young accuses the “Trump 47 Committee”, a fundraising body supporting the President, of allowing the song “to be played numerous times at other rallies designed to encourage Republican votes in the upcoming midterm elections” without the musician’s permission.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Richmond, Virginia, further claims that Trump “was personally aware that a licence would be required”, and that Young “has not, and would not, grant the required licence”. That’s a clear reference to the star’s previous legal dalliance with Trump in August 2020 when he was not only aggrieved by Trump’s use of “Rockin’ in the Free World” at campaign rallies, but also by the inclusion of “Devil’s Sidewalk” on the President’s playlist.
Then, Young demanded $150,000 (£113,000) per track for “wilful infringement” of his rights, arguing that his recordings were being used “for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate”. The lawsuit was settled four months later, and in his latest legal action Young insists that Trump promised never again to use “Rockin’ In The Free World” without both a licence and the artist’s permission. Young has called the song “the opposite of everything that Donald J Trump stands for”.
Now Young, 80, is upping the ante and may be able to expect another payday. He joins a long line of artists objecting to Trump’s decision to co-opt their music and use it to endorse his messaging. Artists who have previously filed lawsuits against Trump include Eddy Grant, the estate of Isaac Hayes, and The White Stripes. Artists who have sent cease-and-desist letters to Trump include Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, The Rolling Stones, the late Tom Petty’s family, Phil Collins and Rihanna.
