Céline Dion has joined the long list of musicians who have rebuked the use of their music at Donald Trump’s campaign events.
After a video of Dion performing her hit song “My Heart Will Go On” was shown at Trump’s rally in Bozeman, Montana, on Friday, the Canadian singer expressed her disapproval in a statement posted on X.
“Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign rally in Montana,” Dion posted.
“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use. …And really, THAT song?”
The romantic ballad, released as the theme to the 1997 film “Titanic,” is an odd choice for a political rally, as campaigns generally avoid imagery of sinking ships.
The romantic ballad, released as the theme to the 1997 film “Titanic,” is an odd choice for a political rally, as campaigns generally avoid imagery of sinking ships. The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris took note of the irony, posting a video of the song playing at the rally with the caption, “Trump campaign plays the theme from the Titanic at his rally.” The song was in keeping with Trump’s more unorthodox approach to campaign music, which ranges from the usual patriotic anthems such as Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” to unexpected picks such as the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and musical theater numbers from “The Phantom of the Opera.” That wide-ranging taste has also gotten Trump in trouble. Since 2016, many prominent musicians have disavowed Trump’s use of their music at his campaign events — so many, in fact, that there’s a Wikipedia page titled “Musicians who oppose Donald Trump’s use of their music.” Dion reportedly turned down an invitation to perform at Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
Deanna Schwartz
Deanna Schwartz is a digital platforms producer at MSNBC.
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