Guitar legend Johnny Marr has slammed Donald Trump after the former US president was heard playing The Smiths at one of his political rallies.
On Tuesday evening, the musician responded to a video on X (formerly Twitter) depicting a Trump rally in South Dakota last year, where The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want could be heard playing.
“You actually hear The Smiths more often than you’d think at 2024 Trump rallies,” the post claimed.
Johnny then responded: “Ahh…right…OK. I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass. Consider this shit shut right down right now.”
This isn’t the first time Johnny has spoken out against politicians who have endorsed The Smiths’ music.
Back in 2010, David Cameron (then still leader of the Conservative party) made an appearance on Desert Island Discs, during which he selected The Smiths’ This Charming Man as one of his chosen songs.
“David Cameron, stop saying that you like The Smiths,” Johnny responded publicly. “No you don’t. I forbid you to like it.”
He later claimed in his autobiography that The Smiths “were against everything he and the Conservative party stood for”.
Johnny joins an ever-growing list of artists who’ve opposed Trump using their music at his political events.
In 2020, the Rolling Stones threatened to sue Trump for playing their songs at his election rallies in spite of cease-and-desist directives.
Linkin Park also sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump, after he reposed a campaign-style video featuring the group’s track In The End that same year.
In 2019, Sharon Osbourne blasted the then-president for using the Black Sabbath track Crazy Train in a campaign video, and made it clear that Trump was “forbidden” from using her husband Ozzy’s music in future videos or at his rallies.
A year earlier, Rihanna issued a typically withering response after learning that her song Don’t Stop The Music was being played at pro-Trump political events, famously writing on social media: “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!”