Prince’s estate has hit out at Donald Trump, accusing him of breaking an agreement they had made over not using the late musician’s tracks at his political events.
Around this time last year, Prince’s family blasted Trump when it was revealed that he had been playing Purple Rain at one of his rallies.
“The Prince Estate has never given permission to President Trump or The White House to use Prince’s songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately,” they said at the time.
With Trump on the campaign trail in the US once again, the track was played at one of his events, this time at a rally in Minneapolis, the state where Prince was born, and which is often associated with his legacy.
Voicing their disapproval, Prince’s estate said, in a post shared on the singer’s official Twitter page: “President Trump played Prince’s Purple Rain tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music.
“The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs.”
They also shared a letter seemingly sent from Trump’s lawyers, in which they said: “We write to confirm the Campaign will not use Prince’s music in connection with its activities going forward.”
This comes as it was revealed that Queen were also planning to block Trump’s use of their track We Will Rock You in one of his campaign videos.
A representative for the rock group told BuzzFeed they had “already entered into a process to call for non-use of Queen song copyrights by the Trump campaign”.
Back in June, Sharon Osbourne was left fuming when she found out Trump had been playing husband Ozzy’s hit Crazy Train at rallies, but these are far from the only musical figures to voice their disdain for the Republican party’s use of their music without permission.
Last year, Rihanna issued a typically withering response upon learning that her song Don’t Stop The Music was being played at a Trump rallies, writing: “Not for much longer… me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up!”
A week earlier, singer and music producer Pharrell Williams sent the POTUS a cease and desist letter, after his tune Happy was played at a Trump rally on the same day as a massacre at a synagogue in Pittbsurgh.