Johnny Marr, former lead guitarist in the Smiths, has become the latest musician outraged to discover that the band's music has been played at Donald Trump's campaign rallies. "I never in a million years would've thought this could come to pass," Marr said in response to a post on X. "Consider this s--- shut right down right now." The post, which said, "You actually hear the Smiths more often than you'd think at 2024 Trump rallies," had video of the Smiths song "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" playing at a Trump rally in South Dakota last year. It was a response to reporter Ben Jacobs, who posted that the Smiths were being played ahead of a Monday rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, Rolling Stone reports.
It's not clear what action Marr, who co-wrote the 1984 song with Smiths frontman Morrissey, plans to take to stop his music being played at Trump rallies. The band split up in 1987. The Guardian reports that numerous artists—or, in the cases of Prince, David Bowie, and Tom Petty, their estates—have objected to Trump using their music, and some, including the Rolling Stones, have issued cease-and-desist letters that were disregarded by the campaign.
The Guardian notes that while Morrissey has expressed support for far-right causes, Marr doesn't share his former bandmate's views and has previously objected to conservative politicians saying they like the band's music. "Stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don't. I forbid you to like it," he said in 2010 after then-Prime Minister David Cameron said "This Charming Man" was among his favorite songs. (More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)
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