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The Rolling Stones are threatening President Donald Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies despite cease-and-desist directives.

The Stones said in a statement Sunday that their legal team is working with music rights organization BMI to stop use of their material in Trump’s reelection campaign.

‘The BMI have notified the Trump campaign on behalf of the Stones that the unauthorized use of their songs will constitute a breach of its licensing agreement,´ the Stones said.

‘If Donald Trump disregards the exclusion and persists, then he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed.´´

The Stones had complained during Trump’s 2016 campaign about the use of their music to fire up his conservative base at rallies.

The Rolling Stones´ 1969 classic ‘You Can´t Always Get What You Want’ was a popular song for his events.

It was played again at the close of Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – an indoor event criticized for its potential to spread coronavirus.

It came after Tom Petty’s estate issued Trump a formal cease and desist order for using his 1989 song I Won’t Back Down during his sparsely-attended Tulsa rally.

Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind,’ the statement read.

‘Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together. We believe in America and we believe in democracy.

‘But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicit in this usage.’

On Tuesday, Panic! At The Disco frontman Brendon Urie demanded Trump stop using their songs, after he used their 2018 hit song High Hopes during a rally in Phoenix.

The 33-year-old star tweeted: ‘Dear Trump Campaign, F*** you. You’re not invited. Stop playing my song…Donald Trump represents nothing we stand for.’

Urie then urged his 6.6M social media following to register to vote to help get ‘this monster out [of office] in November.’

Other artists have also complained about having their music associated with Trump’s events.

A year ago, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne demanded Trump stop using anymore of his music, including 1980 banger Crazy Train, for political ads or campaigns.

Grammy Award-winning musician Neil Young lashed out at Trump in 2018 after hearing one of his songs played against his wishes during Trump’s pre-midterm campaign rallies.

The Canadian-born musician admonished Trump for using his 1990 single, ‘Rockin´ in the Free World,’ in spite of earlier warnings.

In 2018, Rihanna tweeted that neither she nor her people ‘would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies’ after Trump played her 2008 hit Please Don’t Stop the Music.

That same day, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose tweeted that the twice-divorced father-of-five was a ‘s***bag’ for ignoring his ‘formal request’ to stop using Sweet Child ‘o Mine from 1987.

Also this week, actress-singer Betty Buckley, a star of the original Broadway production of Cats, urged composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to help stop the playing of the song “Memory” at Trump rallies.

She reiterated the sentiment today.

 

 

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