Tom Petty’s family has denounced the Donald Trump campaign’s use of the musician’s 1989 hit, “I Won’t Back Down,” tonight (June 20) at Presidential rally in Oklahoma.
Hours after the rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa ended, Petty’s social media pages published a terse response to the unauthorized use, and issued a cease and desist notice. “Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate,” said the letter.
Also of note, the letter was signed by Petty’s two daughters, Adria and Annakim, his widow, Dana Petty, and ex-wife, Jane Petty.
The complete letter, via the Petty Facebook page:
Tom Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down” was used today at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, OK.
Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind.
Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He like to bring people together.
Tom wrote this song for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE. We want to make it clear that we believe everyone is free to vote as they like, think as they like, but the Petty family doesn’t stand for this. We believe in America and we believe in democracy. But Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicit in this usage. Concurrently, we have issued an official cease and desist notice to the Trump campaign.
Adria, Annakim, Dana and Jane Petty
Related: When Tom Petty presaged the “Me Too” movement
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