Céline Dion Criticizes Trump for Using ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at Rally

Céline Dion’s team has expressed disapproval of Donald Trump using one of her most famous songs at a campaign rally in Montana.

During the rally for Trump and his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance in Bozeman on Friday, Aug. 9, event organizers played a video of Dion performing “My Heart Will Go On,” her 1997 hit song from the Titanic soundtrack, according to NBC News.

In a message shared to Dion’s X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Aug. 10, the singer’s team responded to the campaign’s use of the song.

“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,” the statement reads.

“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use,” the statement adds, finishing with a question for the Trump campaign: “…And really, THAT song?”

Dion previously turned down Trump’s request for her to perform at his 2017 presidential inauguration.

This isn’t the first time a music artist has rejected Trump’s use of their music. During the former president’s re-election campaign in 2020, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival issued a cease-and-desist letter to Trump after he used the band’s song “Fortunate Son” at campaign events, according to Rolling Stone.

“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. I also wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes,” Fogerty wrote at the time.

“Mr. Trump is a prime example of both of these issues. 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.”

That same year, Consequence of Sound reported that Phil Collins’ team also sent Trump’s campaign a demand to stop using “In the Air Tonight” after it was played at an Iowa rally.

The use of the song was “particularly inappropriate since it was apparently intended as a satirical reference to Covid-19,” Collins’ lawyer wrote at the time. “That reference was made at a time when Iowa was suffering from an acceleration of Covid-19 infection. Mr. Collins does not condone the apparent trivialization of Covid-19.”

The Associated Press previously reported that even more artists — and the estates of several deceased musicians — have objected to Trump’s use of their music, including Bruce Springsteen, who rejected his use of “Born in the U.S.A.” in 2016, Neil Young, Tom Petty’s family, Leonard Cohen’s estate and The Rolling Stones.

Source: NBC News, Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Associated Press.