The British rock band Queen is taking exception to Donald Trump’s use of the their hit song We Are The Champions during his dramatic entrance last night at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
Trump walked out on stage to thundering applause Monday night at the Quicken Loans Arena, with the famed Queen song blaring over the speakers, before he introduced his wife Melania. Her speech was later swept up in controversy over allegations it was plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
Tuesday morning, Queen issued a statement via Twitter saying the use of song We Are The Champions was “unauthorised.”
“An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes,” the band tweeted.
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The band’s guitarist, Brian May, had issued a statement last month asking the presumptive GOP presidential nominee not to use the 1977 rock anthem during his political campaign.
“I’ve had an avalanche of complaints – some of which you can see in our ‘LETTERS’ page – about Donald Trump using our We Are The Champions track as his ‘theme’ song on USA TV,” May wrote on his personal website June 8. “This is not an official Queen statement, but I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given. We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue.
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May added that Queen’s music shouldn’t be associated with any political party.
“Regardless of our views on Mr Trump’s platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool. Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy.”
Many on social media also blasted Trump’s use of the song and suggested his entrance which was reminiscent of professional wrestling event.
This is not the first time the billionaire businessman has run up against rock royalty.
In May, The Rolling Stones asked Trump to stop using their songs which included “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Start me up.”
And Canadian rocker Neil Young attacked Trump in June 2016 for using the song Rockin’ in the Free World among other music to launch his presidential campaign. A spokesperson for Trump told Rolling Stone magazine the campaign had paid for the right to use the song.
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