R.E.M. is none too happy that Donald Trump used their song “It’s The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” at a recent rally calling for public opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.
“Go f–k yourselves, the lot of you — you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men,” frontman Michael Stipe said in an email to The Daily Beast. “Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.”
It is believed that the men Stipe referred to were Trump and Ted Cruz, a fellow Republican presidential candidate who invited Trump to speak at the rally on Wednesday.
The band posted a slightly more polished response on their official Facebook page. It read:
“While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here. The media and the American voter should focus on the bigger picture, and not allow grandstanding politicians to distract us from the pressing issues of the day and of the current Presidential campaign.”
Trump is not the only public figure to get in trouble with a band for using their music this week. Survivor, the band behind the hit song “Eye of the Tiger,” tore into anti-gay Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis after she used the song during a rally after she was released from jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
