The family of the late soul and funk singer Isaac Hayes has ordered Donald Trump to stop using Hayes’ song “Hold On, I’m Comin'” at his campaign rallies.
A letter sent to Trump and his campaign, released by Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, threatens legal action if Trump continues to use the Sam & Dave song, written by Hayes and David Porter in 1966. The letter also alleges copyright infringement and demands $3 million in licensing fees for the song’s use between 2022 and 2024.
The letter from attorney James Walker alleges that the Trump campaign “knowingly and brazenly engaged in copyright infringement” and continued to use the song “despite repeated requests from our client not to engage in such unlawful use.”
Walker argues that the song has been used so frequently that the $3 million figure is “grossly discounted. If no settlement is reached and litigation is filed, the Hayes family will seek damages of $150,000 for each use of the song,” the letter states.
Hayes III wrote Saturday that Trump, who has previously been photographed dancing to “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” used the song at a rally in Montana despite being asked not to. “We will be dealing with this matter very swiftly… Donald Trump is an abysmal individual in terms of integrity and integrity, with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and his racist comments.”
In 2022, the Hayes family criticized President Trump’s use of the song at the National Rifle Association convention less than a week after the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 students dead. “We send our condolences to the victims and families of Uvalde, and to the victims of mass shootings around the world,” they wrote.
Porter, who co-wrote the song, also wrote, “I did not and will not authorize them to use it for any purpose by him.” Hayes and Porter wrote the song together as staff writers for Stax Records prior to Hayes’ solo career; their other hits together include Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.”
Trump and his campaign have not commented on the legal threats or the alleged copyright infringement.
On Saturday, Celine Dion condemned Trump’s use of My Heart Will Go On at the same rally in Bozeman, Montana, but did not threaten legal action. “This use was not authorized in any way and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement said. “And that song, seriously?” the statement added. Trump was widely mocked for using a song often associated with a sinking ship at a campaign rally.
Dion’s Titanic soundtrack ballad was the latest bizarre, even hilarious, musical choice by the Trump campaign in recent years. The Smiths’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want,” a raw and vulnerable plea played at a rally in January, led the band’s Johnny Marr to write, “Never in a million years did I think this would happen. Let’s stop this shit right now.” REM’s Michael Stipe said in 2015 after the use of their upbeat, apocalyptic song, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine),” that “don’t use our music or my voice for your stupid, farcical campaign.”
Many other musicians have spoken out against Donald Trump using their music at his rallies, with Wikipedia pages dedicated to them. Some of the most famous musicians include Adele, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. The estates of Leonard Cohen, Luciano Pavarotti and George Harrison have also spoken out against the use of their music at his rallies.
Trump frequently used Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” at his rallies, leading the Toronto-born musician to write an open letter in 2020, acknowledging that there was no legal recourse to block the use, but saying, “You are a disgrace to our country… Your senseless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment, and our relationships with friends around the world will not be tolerated.”
