Tom Petty Estate Blasts Kari Lake’s “Failed Campaign” For Use Of ‘I Won’t Back Down’

Ted Johnson
·3 min read
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The estate of Tom Petty blasted the campaign of Republican Kari Lake for using the late singer’s work I Won’t Back Down as she refuses to concede the Arizona governor’s race to Katie Hobbs.

Lake used the song in a video, unveiled on Instagram this week, that features Petty’s song as a soundtrack.

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But Petty’s estate said in a statement that the recording was “stolen and used without permission or a license to promote Kari Lake’s failed campaign.”

“This is illegal. We are exploring all our legal options to stop this unauthorized use and to prohibit future misappropriations of Tom’s beloved anthem,” the estate said in a Twitter post.

Petty’s estate objected in 2020 to Donald Trump’s use of I Won’t Back Down at a rally in Tulsa, OK.

But Lake’s use of the song is different. Often campaigns have a blanket license through ASCAP or other performing rights organizations to play music at campaign events, but Lake is using it in a video. In 2009, Don Henley sued the campaign of Chuck DeVore, a candidate for U.S. Senate in California, after his campaign used a parody of his works in a campaign video. A federal court ruled in favor of Henley and, after facing up to $1 million in damages, DeVore’s campaign settled and issued an apology.

Lake’s campaign could not be reached for comment, but they removed a tweet featuring the video although it remains posted on Instagram.

Meanwhile, the estate of Isaac Hayes is objecting to the use of “Hold On I’m Coming,“ a song that Hayes wrote with David Porter and popularized by soul duo Sam and Dave, at Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential announcement on Tuesday night. It’s unclear whether the Trump campaign had any kind of a license for the public performance. “We are exploring multiple legal options to stop this unauthorized use,” the estate said. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Numerous other acts have publicly objected to the use of their songs at Trump’s campaign rallies, including the Rolling Stones, first objected to Trump’s use of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during the 2016 presidential campaign. When he continued to use the without their permission, music rights management giant BMI threatened a lawsuit. Its rival ASCAP soon followed suit.

And the list of classic rockers and current stars objecting to use of their songs for political purposes goes on. There’s been Neil Young, whose “Rockin’ in the Free World” was played when Trump announced his candidacy after descending an escalator at the Trump Tower in New York in June 2015; Queen for his use of “We Are the Champions” at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland; Rihanna, for the use of her hit song “Don’t Stop the Music” at a 2018 Trump rally in Tallahassee, FL; Pharrell Williams, whose Oscar-nominated “Happy” was played at a Trump rally hours after 11 people were killed at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018; Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, whose “High Hopes” played at Trump’s Phoenix event.

The trend goes back decades to the time in 1984 when Ronald Reagan — a former SAG president — told a crowd: “America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.” That was as the Boss’ single “Born in the U.S.A.” was all over the radio at home and abroad, and Springsteen spoke out publicly against the implied endorsement.

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