Prince estate: Trump violated promise not to play 'Purple Rain'

The campaign played the song at the president's Target Center appearance after it promised a year ago to stop playing Prince's music at rallies, the estate said.

October 12, 2019 at 2:37AM
President Donald Trump greeted cheering crowds at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
President Donald Trump greeted cheering crowds at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Shortly before President Donald Trump took the stage at downtown Minneapolis' Target Center Thursday night, Prince's "Purple Rain" played — even though his estate asked a year ago that the president stop using the late musician's music.

"President Trump played Prince's 'Purple Rain' tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince's music," Prince's estate said in a tweet Thursday night. "The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince's songs."

In October 2018, Prince's estate asked that the president immediately "cease all use" of Prince's songs. A spokeswoman for Prince's estate provided an Oct. 15, 2018, letter from a Trump campaign attorney, who wrote that the campaign "will not use Prince's music in connection with its activities going forward."

Prince, a Minneapolis native, died in 2016 at his home in Chanhassen, after an accidental overdose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. In 1983, he recorded "Purple Rain" live at First Avenue, across the street from Target Center.

Prince performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in April 2008.
Prince performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in April 2008. (New York Times file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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about the writer

Emma Nelson

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Emma Nelson is a reporter and editor at the Star Tribune.

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