Usher, Cyndi Lauper tell politicians ‘Stop Using Our Songs’

Every election cycle, there’s always at least a few stories about candidates using a singer or band’s song in their campaign without the artist’s permission. The Republican National Convention was perhaps one of the worst instances, with as many as five artists clapping back at the GOP for using their music to fill in the awkward silences between politicians’ often racist and inflammatory speeches.

Even though the song might have been licensed – and therefore its usage didn’t infringe on any copyrights – many artists have publicly taken exception at their work being used in campaigns that don’t align with their political beliefs. The musicians performed their own collaboration, “Don’t Use Our Song”, in front of green screen images of diners, farms, and other stereotypical American scenes.

Oliver has committed a lot of time to bashing the newly-minted Republican presidential nominee.

You can find the song featuring these musicians in the video above.

Brian May of Queen recently spoke out against Donald Trump’s use of the iconic hit “We Are The Champions” without their permission.

“So it’s with a heavy heart that I announce, Freddie Mercury dead again at age 69”, Oliver joked. Queen was quick to comment on Twitter that the song was used against their wishes. Usher announces. Groban sings, “If I wanted to sing and not get paid, I’d be on Spotify”. Ronald Regan was doing the same thing to Bruce Springsteen over thirty years ago.