Isaac Hayes’ family threatens to sue Donald Trump over rally music

The family of late soul singer Isaac Hayes has ordered Donald Trump to stop playing the star’s song “Hold On I’m Coming” at his campaign rallies.

A letter to Trump and his team, and Hayes’ son shared on social mediathreatened to sue the former US president if he did not comply by August 16.

The family is also demanding a $3m (£2.4m) licensing fee for the campaign to reuse the song between 2022 and 2024.

The song, made famous by soul duo Sam and Dave, is a regular at Trump rallies, often played before and after his speeches.

Hayes wrote the song in 1966 with Dave Porter, who was a staff writer for Stax Records at the time. He went on to win Grammys and Oscars in his own right with hits like “Shaft” and “Walk On By.”

Hayes’ family claimed in their legal letter that they had “repeatedly asked” Trump to stop using the song. They went on to list 134 occasions where activity was still ongoing.

Their attorney, James Walker, claimed the Trump campaign “willfully and flagrantly infringed copyright.”

He went on to demand that the campaign remove all videos containing the song and issue a full statement acknowledging that Hayes’ family did not “authorize, endorse or allow” the use of his music.

Walker added that the $3 million settlement sought was a “significantly discounted” figure because the campaign often plays “Hang in there, I’m coming.”

The letter also states that if a resolution is not reached and a lawsuit is filed, the Hayes family will seek damages of $150,000 for each use of the song, for a total of more than $20 million (£15.7 million).

The Trump campaign has not yet responded to the letter or the threat of legal action.

The Hayes family had previously criticized Trump for playing “Hang On I’m Coming” at an NRA convention, less than a week after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 people.

“Our condolences go out to the victims and families in Uvalde and to the victims of mass shootings everywhere,” they wrote at the time.

Porter, who co-wrote the song, also wrote: “I have not and will not consent to their use of this song for any of his purposes.”

Meanwhile, Sam Porter, who sang on the hit record, objected to Barack Obama’s use of the song in his 2008 presidential campaign.

“I have not yet agreed to support you for our nation’s highest office,” he said in a statement at the time.

“My vote is a very personal matter between me and the ballot box,” he added.

On Sunday, Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, detailed his objections to the Trump campaign.

“Donald Trump is the epitome of a lack of integrity and class, not only because of his ongoing use of my father’s music without permission, but also because of his history of sexual abuse of women and his racist rhetoric,” he wrote on Instagram.

“This behavior will no longer be tolerated and we will act quickly to stop it.”

The Hayes family is the latest in a long line of musicians to complain about the Trump campaign.

Artists such as The Beatles, Neil Young, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Sinead O’Connor and Aerosmith have all issued cease-and-desist orders to politicians.

In fact, the list of protesting artists is so long that the topic Has its own Wikipedia page.

Celine Dion’s team also protested the use of her song “My Heart Will Go On” at a rally in Montana on Saturday.

“This use is in no way authorized, nor does Celine Dion endorse this or any similar use,” the statement read.

“Really, that song?” it added, alluding to the fact that the song was recorded for the movie Titanic, which tells the story of a shipwreck.

However, musicians have had only limited success in preventing politicians from using their music.

In the US, campaigns need a political entity license from music rights agency BMI, which allows them to use more than 20 million tracks at rallies.

Artists and publishers can request that their music be removed from listings, but organizers appear to rarely check repositories to ensure they have permission.

“They don’t care about artists’ rights as much as you hope they do,” said Jackson Browne’s attorney when he sued Republican candidate John McCain over a song in a 2008 ad Larry Iser said. (The case was later settled).

“This is not just the Trump campaign,” Issel told Billboard magazine. “Most political campaigns are not keen on removing the song outright.”

Cases rarely, if ever, make it to court – both sides usually give in after a series of legal letters.