While Donald Trump‘s campaign says it paid to use Neil Young‘s “Rockin‘ in the Free World” at Tuesday’s presidential announcement, you won’t hear Young’s music at any future events.
“Through a license agreement with ASCAP, Mr. Trump’s campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young’s recording of ‘Rockin‘ in the Free World’ at [Tuesday’s] event,” a spokesperson for the campaign said in a statement to Billboard. “Never the less, we won’t be using it again — there are plenty of songs to choose from. Despite Neil’s differing political views, Mr. Trump likes Neil very much.”
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Young took issue with Trump’s choice of song, saying in a statement Tuesday evening that he didn’t agree to let him use it: “Donald Trump was not authorized to use ‘Rockin‘ In The Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s camp fired back Wednesday, saying they followed the proper channels to use the song by signing licensing deals through ASCAP and BMI.
We guess he’ll just have to stick to playing “Memory” from the musical Cats — seriously — at future events.
This article first appeared on Billboard.com.
