John Fogerty hits Donald Trump with cease-and-desist for using CCR’s Fortunate Son at rallies

John Fogerty, founder and former frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival, has issued a cease-and-desist order against Donald Trump over the use of CCR’s Fortunate Son at his campaign rallies.

Fogerty joins a growing list of artists – which include Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, the estate of Tom Petty and Linkin Park – who have demanded that Trump stop using their music during his reelection campaign.

According to The Hill, Fortunate Son is regularly played before Trump’s reelection rallies. In a tweet made on 17 October, Fogerty objected to the president’s use of the song, saying: “He is using my words and my voice to portray a message that I do not endorse.”

“I wrote this song because, as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege,” Fogerty explained. “I also wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes. Mr. Trump is a prime example of both these issues.”

“The fact that Mr. Trump also fans the flames of hatred, racism and fear while rewriting recent history, is even more reason to be troubled by his use of my song.”

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— John Fogerty (@John_Fogerty) October 16, 2020

This isn’t the first time that Fogerty has criticised Trump’s campaign for using the tune. In a video posted to Facebook on 12 September, the musician said that it was “confounding” that the song – given its critical stance on class privilege – was being played at Trump events.

“It’s a song I could have written now,” Fogerty said. “And so I find it confusing, I would say, that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact it seems like he is probably the fortunate son.” See the full video post below.

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