SKILLET's JOHN COOPER: 'If Anybody Wants To Use My Music' At Political Rallies, 'Go For It'

In a new interview with The Jacob Buehrer Show, John Cooper of Christian hard rockers SKILLET once again weighed in on the long list of musicians who have objected to Donald Trump using their songs at political rallies. Ahead of the 2020 election, that included Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Eddy Grant, PANIC! AT THE DISCO, R.E.M. and GUNS N' ROSES. Earlier this year, Celine Dion has asked Trump to stop using "My Heart Will Go On", FOO FIGHTERS denounced his use of "My Hero" and Beyoncé blocked Trump from using her song "Freedom" in a campaign video.

Asked if he would be "fine" with SKILLET music being used by politicians of any parties at their rallies, Cooper said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, that is such a great question. I really should have an answer for this. My position used to be anybody can play my music. I just love the country. So I don't care. I wouldn't view somebody playing my song as me saying I'm voting for, you know, Barack Obama. I wouldn't have been, like, 'Use the song. We're all Americans.'

"I think one of the magic things about music is that it can mean something different to each person," he continued. "So I particularly used to feel that way. I feel like that the game is being changed in such a bizarre fashion that now I'm being forced to think about things I wouldn't have thought about in the future. But I still stand behind it.

"Look, if any presidential candidate was using my song, I would never get on the phone and call my lawyer and say, 'Stop them from using my song.' I would just be, like, 'Hey, I'm not voting for fill-in-the-blank person, but I don't care if they use my song. We're all Americans.' It's kind of how I feel about it right now, but I reserve the right to change my mind later. But I just can't imagine [me trying to stop any candidate from using SKILLET music], even though I will say the world is becoming very strange right now. That just really makes me sad. I really wish that we could all just be Americans and say, 'Here are the things that we love,' and not demonize the other people. But I also don't wanna be naïve and not recognize that I do think that we are in a time where there are two different visions for the country. And so it might just be the case that we don't agree on even what I would call bedrock civil liberties-type issues. And if that's [how it is], this is where it is.

"But back to your question, I kind of feel like if anybody wants to use my music, go for it," Cooper concluded.

In recent years, many musicians have fought publicly against the GOP's co-opting of their songs and their respective messages.

AEROSMITH, THE BEATLES, QUEEN, Elton John and THE ROLLING STONES, as well as the estates of Tom Petty, Prince and David Bowie have also objected to Trump's use of their music at rallies.

By contrast, Kamala Harris received approval from Beyoncé's team to use "Freedom" from her 2016 album "Lemonade" as part of her presidential campaign.

In August, Isaac Hayes's estate took legal action against the Trump campaign for its use of "Hold On, I'm Coming" at multiple Trump rallies over the last two years.

According to Billboard, the performing rights organizations BMI and ASCAP require political campaigns to obtain licenses to use songs in their catalogs, with a caveat in the license that allows songwriters to object to usage in a political campaign. At both ASCAP and BMI, members can request to withdraw their music from political-campaign licenses.

"How it works is that the blanket license gives the campaign authorization to play any one of BMI's 22.4 million musical works wherever campaign events/functions occur, but there is a provision built into this license so that if we receive an objection from a songwriter or music publisher about a particular song(s) being used in a campaign, we will remove that song(s) from the license," Jodie Thomas, a spokesperson for BMI, told Business Insider. "We will then notify the campaign that the song has been removed from their license and that they are no longer authorized by BMI to perform that song at any campaign events or functions moving forward."

Cooper previously talked about artists and bands vocalizing their opposition to political candidates using their music earlier this month in an interview with On The Road To Rock podcast with Clint Switzer. Asked if he is "cool" with SKILLET music being used by politicians at their rallies, Cooper said: "This is my personal opinion, and this could change. I don't want somebody later to say, 'Well, you said blah blah blah.' My personal opinion at today, I don't care who plays my song at their political rally, because I believe in America over party. I believe in the foundations of this country. And plus, we have this thing called social media, and let's just say, hypothetically, let's say that you're running for president, and you're playing my song, and let's just say that I don't like your platform. I can always go on social media and say, 'Hey, I wanna make it clear, this dude may be using my song, and I'm happy for him to use it. It doesn't mean that I'm supporting his presidency, but I love America.' You can do that. There's a lot of ways you can go around it. Now, I do think there's a difference. Let's just say that you then wanted to use my song on one of your paid advertisements on a commercial. Now we're getting into something. But if you're playing my song at a political rally and you're walking out and my song's playing, I go, hey, you know what? Go America. It's the best country in the world, and we can disagree on some things."

In recent years, Cooper he has become more outspoken about what he sees as a serious threat to Christianity in America. He regularly uses his platform to address hot-button issues like sexual ethics, post-modernism, abortion and deconstruction from a biblical perspective.

In various interviews, John has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

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