Watch Musicians Tell Politicians to Stop Using Their Songs on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Watch Musicians Tell Politicians to Stop Using Their Songs on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Trump just doesn’t get it. Perhaps thinking a little too highly of himself, he has walked out to Queen’s power anthem “We Are The Champions” at the Republican National Convention and perhaps just not thinking at all, R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” played before Trump gave a speech on Iran’s nuclear deal. He has not received permission to use any of these songs, by the way.

Of course, Trump isn’t the only politician to utilize artists’ work without the A-OK from the musicians themselves. Reagan did it. Palin did it. McCain did it. The list goes on and on and on.

So John Oliver, with the help of some friends, skewered Trump and other politicians who appropriate music for their own ends, often taking it out of context. In his return to Last Week Tonight after a three-week hiatus, Oliver showed a video of musicians taking a stand against these improper uses of their music. In a “We Are the World” sort of bit, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds, Michael Bolton, Usher, Josh Groban, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper and John Mellencamp send a clear message to Trump and his ilk: Don’t use our songs.

Watch the full clip above.

 
Join the discussion...