We lost Sinead O’Connor last summer at the too-young age of 56. Instead of letting her spirit rest in peaceful protest, she must’ve been hurling in whatever spectral plane she inhabits now, when her classic cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” was used by Donald Trump at a campaign rally. What, was the message supposed to be that nothing compares to Trump? Barf. I mean, it’s true, nothing does compare to the twice-impeached quattro-indicted former president. Just not in the way he thinks. Plus I’m struggling to think of any artist who would be less cool with Trump using their work than Sinead. Upon learning of this abomination, her estate has acted quickly along with her label Chrysalis Records in demanding Trump cease and desist. Immediately.
The estate of Sinéad O’Connor has asked Donald Trump to stop using her music at his political rallies.
Last month, Mr Trump played O’Connor’s best-known song Nothing Compares 2 U at a campaign event in Maryland.
The singer’s estate told BBC News it was “no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt, and insulted” by his use of her music.
Mr Trump is running to be the Republican presidential candidate ahead of the US election in November.
A joint statement from O’Connor’s estate and her longtime label Chrysalis Records said: “Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness, and decency towards her fellow human beings.
“It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of Nothing Compares 2 U at his political rallies.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt, and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil’.”
The statement concluded: “As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump, and his associates desist from using her music immediately.”
The Guardian reported songs including Abba’s Dancing Queen, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds were used in addition to Nothing Compares 2 U before Mr Trump took to the stage on 24 February.
Written by Prince, O’Connor’s version of Nothing Compares 2 U spent four weeks at number one in the UK in 1990.
O’Connor died last July aged 56. A coroner later said she died of natural causes.
Mr Trump served as the 45th US president after winning the 2016 election, but he lost to President Biden in 2020.
I applaud Sinead’s estate and label for not only issuing the cease and desist, but also for making the extra statement to communicate Sinéad’s complete and utter disgust with Trump. Letting us know she referred to him as a “biblical devil” is the cherry on top. Now do I think Don personally requests the tunes he wants at his rallies? No, not at all. Certainly not these days, I don’t think he has the bandwidth to store that data anymore. But it’s still important for artists to take action against the association. (And for us to pay attention to those who don’t.) Now as for the playlist mentioned, I do not see a connecting theme among the songs. “Nothing Compares 2 U,” “Dancing Queen,” “Ring of Fire,” and “Suspicious Minds!” What is this story? “Suspicious Minds” is the one really slaying me. Has that ever been a campaign event song for a presidential candidate? “We’re caught in a trap/I can’t walk out,” and “Why can’t you see/what you’re doing to me/when you don’t believe a word I say?” Once again, the lyrics are apt, just not at all in the way he thinks.
Anthony Dixon / Avalon, Look Press Agency/Look Press / Avalon, Getty, Justin Ng / Avalon
I’m absolutely team Sinead’s Estate on this, but on what planet is that a song to get people amped up at a rally? I feel like that says a lot more about the sorry state of that man’s campaign than these polling numbers do.
Trump’s rally music choices have always been weird and sad – not only are none of these great for motivating a crowd ( I love “Suspicious Minds” but it’s not exactly a party song! Must be connected to Agent Orange’s ridiculous belief that he somehow resembles Elvis) but so many of the songs he loves are by artists that will never associate with him. He could just play, like, Ted Nugent or Kid Rick (MAGA adjacent artists) but he doesn’t want them! He wants The Rolling Stones, Sinead, and the Village People.
This! I remember watching live news coverage of Joe’s innaugeration there were some Trump suppporters, staff and his family members gathering at the airport where their plane was taking off to take him and Melanie out of DC (hopefully forever!). They had music playing and it was just weird. I remember hearing Elton John’s “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”.
????? Weird choice. Not sure where they were going with that.
No he doesn’t want Nuggent or Kid Rock. He wants the good stuff like U2 and the Rolling Stones.
Well, another artist who might be even less cool than Sinead with having Trump use their work at his political rallies might be Prince. Would his estate also have grounds to formally object?
I’m hoping my comment got removed for use of a unapproved word and not because this site is not allowing comments against Biden. So I will rephrase; I hope everyone watched Annie Lennox’s tribute to Sinead. If you did, let’s ask ourselves how we think she’d feel any better about Biden, given his administration’s current foreign policies.
To be clear, Trump is trash. But posting about Sinead as if Biden would be acceptable to someone of her activism and humanity is disingenuous, and having two options of equal terribleness is not how things should be. It’s a failure of our entire western culture to think this is normal.
Ok, but he hasn’t used any of her music so it doesn’t matter. Not every instance requires a two sided story.
The two options are not equally terrible. Biden is terrible and Trump is much worse. The reelection of Donald Trump WILL NOT reduce the suffering of the Palestinians. It’ll increase it exponentially. Trump 2.0 = Nakba 2.0
I think Sinead in her 50s would recognize that. Activism today is different than 1992. I doubt she’d support Biden, but I don’t think she’d be out there tearing up his photo while she called for a ceasefire.
You really missed the point of the article.
Biden may not be doing as much as he should for the Palestinians, but trump is actively cheering for their destruction and–should he be elected–will have the power to assist. That’s the difference. So stop “both siding” everything.
I see a binary has already come out of the woodworks…
Saying that Biden and Trump are “equally” terrible is broadcasting a loud “DON’T TRUST MY JUDGMENT, OR, REALLY, MY GRASP OF ‘EQUALLY’ OR ‘TERRIBLE’ EITHER” warning. So, thanks for the PSA, I guess.
Two people can both be flawed; it doesn’t make them equally flawed. They can have the SAME flaw, even, and still not be equally flawed. Degree matters.
He should use music from people who support him but that wouldn’t leave him with many choices.
I’m still reeling from the South Dakota rally where they played The Smiths’ “Please Please Please let me get what I want” and Johnny Marr was all “shut it down, NOW!”
At this point he should be required to get permission in advance because so many musicians have sent him ‘STOP’ letters.