NME News

Foo Fighters denounce John McCain for using their song

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters

The rockers say the presidential candidate never asked permission

Foo Fighters have denounced the use of their song by John McCain in his ongoing presidential campaign.

The band said that the US Republican presidential hopeful has been "perverting the original sentiment" of their song 'My Hero' by using it for his purposes without their permission.

In a statement issued today (October 8), the band criticised his campaign's alleged disregard for creativity intellectual property.

They said: "This isn't the first time the McCain campaign has used a song without making any attempt to get approval or permission from the artist. It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property."

The band added: "The saddest thing about this is that 'My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song. We hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song--and start asking artists' permission in general!"

Foo Fighters, who are reportedly taking a break from touring and recording, have also urged American voters to participate in the November 4 election.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
Find out more about NME.

Comments (2)

Add a comment

qcardy 

Oct 8, 2008

right on

cougarmicrobes 

Oct 10, 2008

John McCain killed all those terrorists in the nakatomi building in 88, of course he is a hero.

Add your comment

NME Alerts

Get NME news delivered direct to your desktop. Find out more

Please sign in

Forgot your password?

Register with MyNME

Every Tuesday and Friday

  • Up-to-the-minute news stories
  • The best new music and free downloads
  • Video interviews, photo galleries, competitions and more
  • Album and track reviews for the week ahead
  • Essential gigs in your area