John Fogerty ‘troubled’ by President Trump’s use of ‘Fortunate Son,’ issues cease and desist

Creedance Clearwater’s John Fogerty releases his latest album, ‘Wrote A Song For Everyone,’ in which he collaborates with 16 special guests, including Foo Fighters, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and My Morning Jacket.

John Fogerty is denouncing President Donald Trump’s unauthorized use of his song. 

The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman took to Twitter Friday with a scathing response to Trump after the president played the rock band’s 1969 hit “Fortunate Son” at his campaign events, including a September rally in Freeland, Michigan.

“I object to the President using my song, ‘Fortunate Son’ in any way for his campaign,” Fogerty, 75, wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “He is using my words and my voice to portray a message that I do not endorse.”

Fogerty added that he’s “issuing a ‘cease and desist’ order.”

Leonard Cohen’s estate’exploring our legal options’ after Trump plays ‘Hallelujah’ 

Fogerty went on to explain that “Fortunate Son” is ironically an anti-war-movement anthem that criticizes privileged people who used their money and status to defer from the Vietnam War draft.

The song has been treated as a patriotic working-class anthem, but listen past its star-spangled opening lines — “Some folks are born made to wave the flag/Ooh, they’re red, white and blue” — for Fogerty’s anti-establishment storytelling about how the poor were sent to fight and die in Vietnam while the wealthy were spared.

“I wrote this song because, as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege,” Fogerty wrote alongside a picture of him in uniform. “I also wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes. Mr. Trump is a prime example of both of these issues.”

Trump received four student draft deferments while an undergraduate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. And in the spring of 1968, he received the “1-Y” classification – for bone spurs in his heels, per The New York Times.

Fogerty added: “The fact that Mr. Trump also fans the flames of hatred, racism and fear while rewriting recent history, is even more reason to be troubled by his use of my song.”

Rock singer John Fogerty performs during the Peace & Love festival in Borlange in the Midwest of Sweden Saturday July 3 2010.

 (Photo: AP)

This is not the first or even second time Trump has caught flak for song choices at his political events. 

In September, Leonard Cohen’s estate said it was “exploring legal options” against against Trump’s campaign after “Hallelujah” was played during the Republican National Convention in late August.

In August, Neil Young posted a lawsuit against Trump’s campaign to his Archives site, claiming it’s a copyright infringement for the president and his campaign to play “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Devil’s Sidewalk” at rallies and political events. 

In June, the Rolling Stones threatened Trump with legal action for using the band’s classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tom Petty’s family also sent a cease-and-desist notice after “I Won’t Back Down” was used during the same rally.

In October 2019, Prince’s estate said Trump didn’t have permission to play “Purple Rain” during a campaign rally in Minneapolis, adding that the president went back on a promise not to use the musician’s work.

In June 2019, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne called out Trump’s use of the 1980 hit single “Crazy Train” in a Twitter video that mocked technical difficulties during a Democratic debate.

In August 2018, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler slammed Trump for using the hit song “Livin’ on the Edge” at a rally in Charleston, West Virginia. In August 2015 and October 2015, Tyler’s legal team sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter after the then-Republican candidate used “Dream On” on the campaign trail.

In October 2018, Pharrell Williams was not “Happy” that Trump used his smash hit at a political event in the Midwest, just hours after nearly a dozen people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Williams also sent a cease-and-desist letter.

R.E.M. and Queen are among the other artists who have objected to the president’s use of their music. 

Contributing: Jennifer McClellan, Maeve McDermott, Camille Caldera

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