The members of the Swedish pop group ABBA have requested that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cease using their music and videos during his campaign rallies, according to the band's record label, Universal Music, on Thursday.
ABBA's popular songs such as "The Winner Takes It All," "Money, Money, Money," and "Dancing Queen" were reportedly played at a rally featuring Trump and his running mate JD Vance on July 27 in Minnesota, accompanied by videos, as reported by the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, which had a reporter present at the event.
Universal Music stated in a release, "Together with the members of ABBA, we have identified videos where ABBA's music has been utilized at Trump events, and we have consequently requested that this usage be discontinued and removed immediately." The statement clarified that no permission or license had been granted to the Trump campaign for such use. The band members chose not to provide further comments, a representative informed Reuters, expressing full support for Universal's statement.
The Trump campaign has yet to respond to a request for comment. Over the years, several artists, including the late American singer-guitarist Tom Petty, British singer-songwriter Adele, and rock band R.E.M., have voiced their objections to their music being played at Trump events. In April, the label of the late Irish singer and activist Sinéad O'Connor also demanded that the Trump campaign stop using her music. Additionally, Canadian singer Celine Dion and her label recently issued a similar complaint, labeling the use of her performance as "unauthorized."
