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TOWARDS THE END: Leonard Cohen on a visit to Norway in 2013. Photo: Trond Solberg
Both the estate and publisher of the deceased Canadian artist declined permission to use the song, warning of legal repercussions.
During the closing ceremony of the Republican Party Congress (RNC) this week, two versions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” were played, one live and one during the fireworks that aired.
And now there are problems, as is often the case when Trump uses popular music in public.
In the past, the Rolling Stones, among others, have opposed the president’s use of their songs, and recently the family of the late Tom Petty reacted to Trump’s use of “I Won’t Back Down.”
– Surprised
We are surprised and dismayed that RNC did this, knowing that the Cohen Estate specifically rejected RNC’s request for use, and their rather rude attempt to politicize and exploit “Hallelujah”, one of the most important songs in Cohen’s catalog, in one of such an unsettling way, “writes Michelle L. Rice, a post-Cohen estate attorney in a press release reproduced, among others, by Pitchfork and TMZ.
“We are considering our legal options,” he adds.
HEARD TOGETHER: The Trump family at the White House ceremony where “Hallelujah” was performed and played on Thursday. From left to right: Donald Jr., Tiffany, President Donald Trump, Melania and Barron. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
Cohen’s songwriting rights administrators Sony / ATV Music Publishing state in the same press release that they were contacted by the Republican Party on Thursday, the day “Hallelujah” was used under RNC.
“We rejected the request,” he said.
SANG «HALLELUJAH»: Opera singer Christopher Macchio. Photo: JIM LO SCALZO / EPA
One of the renditions of “Hallelujah” that was played is a cover with Tori Kelly, an American contestant on “Idol” whose career is run by Scooter Braun, who is also a manager for, among others, Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
“All I know is that neither me nor my team were asked,” Kelly wrote in a tweet that has since been removed, according to Billboard.
Listen to his version for two minutes in this clip:
Leonard Cohen died at the age of 82 on November 7, 2016, the day before Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States.
Hard slag
“Hallelujah” is one of his most famous songs. It was released in 1984 and didn’t have much of an impact then.
A John Cale cover from 1991 and another by Jeff Buckley from 1994 contributed greatly to the song’s growing popularity; now hundreds of versions of “Hallelujah” have been released.
In Norway, the song became a huge success in 2006, when Kurt Nilsen, Espen Lind, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes performed it in “Skavlan”, a starting point for the quartet, which sold a large number of records and tickets. for concerts under the title “Hallelujah Live”.
