Brendon Urie rips Trump campaign: ‘You’re not invited’ to use ‘High Hopes’
As a student at Palo Verde High School, Brendon Urie worked at Tropical Smoothie. He delivered a literary Bahama Mama to President Donald Trump on Tuesday night.
The frontman and founder of Panic! At the Disco has blasted the Trump campaign’s use of “High Hopes,” the band’s top-selling single.
Urie opened his tweet with “Dear Trump Campaign” followed by a profane, two-word message. He then wrote, “You’re not invited. Stop playing my song. No thanks, Brendon Urie, Panic! At The Disco & company.”
Urie followed with a second post: “Dear Everyone Else, Donald Trump represents nothing we stand for. The highest hope we have is voting this monster out in November. Please do your part.” And linked to the headcount.org voter-registration site.
“High Hopes” played as Donald Trump Jr. took the stage at his rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night. Shortly after, Urie unleashed his Twitter posts.
“High Hopes” was a No. 4 Billboard hit for the band in 2018 and was also the NHL’s favorite song to play over highlight clips. In a famous moment on the Strip, Urie and the band played the song before Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final at the Bellagio fountains when a gust of wind led to a dousing of the band.
After a delay to dry off, Panic! performed a flawless second take.
Tom Petty’s family complained that Trump had used “I Won’t Back Down” in his rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also, the Village People recently voiced offense at Trump’s sampling of “Y.M.C.A.” and “Macho Man” during rallies.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.