‘Hallelujah’ used at Trump rally despite objections from Cohen’s estate

Donald Trump has used Leonard Cohen’s globally celebrated, and frequently covered track, ‘Hallelujah’ to kick off the Great American State Fair on Wednesday night, despite objections from his estate.

Ahead of the rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. , the Leonard Cohen estate objected to the planned use of his globally celebrated track ‘Hallelujah’.

Trump used Rufus Wainwright’s cover of ‘Hallelujah’ from the at his 2024 rallies. Wainwright responded by saying that “witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy.”

Conservative media outlet RSBN described the rendition from Christopher Macchio and Marine Band’s Master Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Bennear as “powerful” in a post on X.

WATCH: A Powerful Rendition of Hallelujah Performed by Christopher Maccio and Master Gunnery Sgt Kevin Bennear with a B-2 Bomber Fly-over - 06/24/26 pic.twitter.com/tkMTWz7eSZ

— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) June 24, 2026

“The Leonard Cohen Estate has learned that the song ‘Hallelujah’ is to be performed at a Donald Trump rally on June 24,” a statement posted to Cohen’s Instagram account read. “This use is not authorized, and the Estate does not support or approve of this or any similar usage.”

 

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A post shared by Leonard Cohen (@leonardcohen)

Trump’s history of using unauthorised music is a well-documented saga spanning over a decade and including over 30 artists.

In 2015, a conflict between Trump and Neil Young arose over the use of ‘Rockin' in the Free World’ as an entrance song to his rallies.

The year after, REM publicly slammed the U.S. president for his use of ‘It’s The End of the World as We Know It’, as did Queen for ‘We Are The Champions’.

Adele and Aerosmith both issued cease-and-desist letters regarding the use of their respective hits.

During his 2020 election campaign, The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Pharrell Williams, and Phil Collins all demanded their music be removed from campaign events, with Eddy Grant also issuing a cease-and-desist letter.

The pattern continued in his third presidential campaign, as Celine Dion, Beyoncé, ABBA, and Foo Fighters all objected to the use of their music, while Jack White of The White Stripes filed a federal lawsuit against Trump for using '7 Nation Army' at a fundraising event.

Politicians must proper obtain legal licenses to use an artist's music, whether it is used at a live rally or as part of a campaign video.

Trump claimed that the music used fell under the blanket licenses held by the venues and that the songs used in campaign videos were fair use. However, his campaign crossed several legal boundaries.