Representatives of Prince’s estate Thursday night immediately attacked President Donald Trump’s use of the late singer’s “Purple Rain” at a campaign rally in the late singer’s hometown.
“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 estate said in a Twitter message. “The Prince estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs.”
The message included a letter from a lawyer for the Trump campaign dated nearly a year ago in response to a complaint from the estate. It said “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.”
Neil Young, Adele, the Rolling Stones and Elton John are among the many artists who have objected to the use of their songs by the Trump campaign.
The complaint from the Prince estate came amid a cascade of furious tweets from Prince fans about the president’s use of “Purple Rain.”