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Prince Estate calls out Trump for using the iconic singer's song 'Purple Rain' at a rally, again

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Oct 11, 2019, 05:20 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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Using song from his collection reportedly violated the agreement made by Trump’s campaign and the Prince Estate in 2018.

The US President Donal Trump played superstar Prince’s hit song ‘Purple Rain’ again during a rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday without seeking permission from his Estate that manages everything related to the American singer. 

Using the song from his collection reportedly violated the agreement made by Trump’s campaigners and the Prince Estate in 2018. The same came to notice when the Estate shared the written agreement on Twitter. 

The letter states that the campaign’s legal representatives said it would not use any Prince songs in connection with Trump campaign events, per the estate’s request that was made after Trump used the song during pre-Election Day rallies. They wrote, “President Trump played Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music. The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs.”

Read the letter here:

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As stated in the letter, a law firm that represented Trump’s campaign at the time acknowledged the Estate’s request and stated the campaign would abide by it.

The letter further read, “Your letter requests, on behalf of the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson (‘Prince’) that the Campaign refrain from using Prince’s ‘Purple Rain,’ or any other Prince music in connection with Campaign rallies or other Campaign events. Without admitting liability, and to avoid any future dispute, we write to confirm that the Campaign will not use Prince’s music in connection with its activities going forward.”

This is not the first time that Trump campaign managers have used various artists’ songs during rallies without so much as taking permission from them. The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Aerosmith, among others, on previous occasions have asked the President to stop using their songs.