Neil Young Condemns Donald Trump’s Use Of His Music At Mount Rushmore Event

The rock icon was not happy after his songs were played at Trump's Independence Day celebration at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
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Neil Young had to remind President Donald Trump yet again that he is definitely not down with his songs being played at Trump’s events.

Three of the rock icon’s tracks — “Like A Hurricane,” “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Cowgirl in the Sand” ― were played during Trump’s Independence Day celebration at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night.

Young ― who has called out Trump for using his music on multiple previous occasions ― responded via the Neil Young Archives account on Twitter, his sole presence on the platform since 2019.

“This is NOT ok with me,” read one tweet:

“I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me,” said a second post:

Young became a U.S. citizen in January. The following month, he criticized the Trump campaign’s use of his music at rallies in an open letter posted on his website. In it, he called the president “a disgrace to my country.”

“‘Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World’ is not a song you can trot out at one of your rallies,” Young wrote. “Perhaps you could have been a bass player and played in a rock and roll band. That way you could be on stage at a rally every night in front of your fans, if you were any good, and you might be…”

“Every time ‘Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World’ or one of my songs is played at your rallies, I hope you hear my voice,” Young added. “Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying citizen who does not support you. Me.”

Young also publicly objected to Trump’s use of his songs in his 2016 campaign.

Adele, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Village People, R.E.M. and the estates of Tom Petty and Prince are among a raft of other artists to demand Trump stop using their tracks at his rallies.

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