Neal Preston/© Queen Productions Ltd.It turns out that the Republican National Committee was authorized to use the Queen hit “We Are the Champions” at the party’s national convention, but it apparently will no longer be sanctioned to do so in the future.
A rep for BMI tells ABC News that while the RNC holds a “convention license” allowing them to play any song in the performing-rights organization’s catalog at its events, the convention is being transitioned to a “political entities license” that lets BMI exclude certain musical works at the request of an artist or songwriter.
The spokesperson further explains that Queen presented such a request to BMI, and the organization has sent a letter to the RNC and presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s campaign informing them that they aren’t authorized to play “We Are the Champions” or any other song by the band in BMI’s repertoire anymore. The rep tells ABC News that the RNC and Trump could still legally play Queen music until the new license officially goes into effect, but BMI is hoping they will respect the band’s wishes from now on.
As previously reported, after “We Are the Champions” was played during the first day of the Republican convention Monday, Queen issued a statement via its music publishing company Sony/ATV asking Trump and the RNC to stop using its music.
“Queen does not want its music associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country,” read the message. “Nor does Queen want ‘We Are the Champions’ to be used as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party.”
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