The family of the late soul and funk singer Isaac Hayes has instructed Donald Trump to stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” written by Hayes, at campaign events.
In a letter to Trump and his campaign, shared by Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, Trump threatens legal action if he continues to use the 1966 song “Sam & Dave,” written by Hayes and David Porter. The letter accuses him of copyright infringement and also demands $3 million in royalties accrued from the use of the song between 2022 and 2024.
The letter, written by attorney James Walker, alleges that the Trump campaign “willfully and brazenly committed copyright infringement” and continued to use the song “despite our client’s repeated requests to stop such illegal use.”
Walker claims the song has been used so frequently that the $3 million amount is “greatly understated.” The letter also states that if no resolution is found and a lawsuit is filed, the Hayes family will seek damages of $150,000 per use of the song.
On Saturday, Hayes III wrote that Trump – who had previously been filmed dancing to “Hold On, I’m Comin'” – used the song at a rally in Montana despite being asked not to. “We’re going to take care of this very quickly now… Donald Trump is the worst representative of integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and racist rhetoric.”
In 2022, the Hayes family criticized Trump for using the song at a National Rifle Association convention, less than a week after the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 students dead. “Our condolences go out to the victims and families of Uvalde and to victims of mass murder everywhere,” they wrote.
Porter, the song’s co-writer, also wrote, “I did not approve of it and would not approve of them using the song for their own purposes.” Hayes and Porter wrote the song as staff writers for Stax Records, before Hayes’ solo career – their other co-written hits include Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.”
Trump and his campaign team have not commented on the threat of legal action or the alleged copyright infringement.
On Saturday, Celine Dion rebuked Trump for using “My Heart Will Go On” at the same rally in Bozeman, Montana, but stopped short of threatening legal action. “This use is in no way authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” it said in a statement. “And really, THIS song?” it continued – Trump had been widely ridiculed for using a song commonly associated with a sinking ship at a campaign rally.
Dion’s ballad, from the Titanic soundtrack, was the Trump campaign’s latest odd and even comical music choice in years. The Smiths’ Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, a naked and vulnerable plea, was played at a rally in January, prompting the band’s Johnny Marr to write, “Never in a million years did I think this could happen. Consider this sh*t ended immediately.” REM’s Michael Stipe said, “Don’t use our music or my voice for your moronic campaign farce” after 2015’s It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) – a gleefully apocalyptic song – was used.
So many other musicians have spoken out against Donald Trump’s use of their music at rallies that they all have their own page on Wikipedia. The most famous include Adele, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith; the estates of the late Leonard Cohen, Luciano Pavarotti and George Harrison have also voiced their opposition.
Trump frequently used Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” at rallies, prompting the Toronto-born musician to write an open letter in 2020. While acknowledging that he had no legal means to stop the use, he stated: “You are a disgrace to my country… Your thoughtless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment and our relationships with friends around the world is unforgivable.”
