Tom Petty To Michele Bachmann: Stop Playing 'American Girl'

Renowned rocker Tom Petty hit Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann with a cease-and-desist letter Monday following the congresswoman's decision to close out her campaign announcement to the tune of "American Girl," Rolling Stone reports.

It's not the first time Petty has fought back against a politician using one of his songs. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Petty insisted that George W. Bush not use his hit "I Won't Back Down" to promote his run for the White House.

And Petty isn't the only artist who has taken issue with politicians choosing to populate their campaign playlists with their tunes. From Aerosmith to Van Halen, take a look below at the historical face-offs between musicians and politicians.

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Comments

[MiamiMama]

06:48 PM on 07/24/2011

Tom Petty says "Don't Play My Music, American Girl."

Gnarls Barkley tells Bachmann feel free to play my music since it fits your perfectly, "Crazy!".

Michelle declined to comment except to her husband...."Who the he11 is Gnarls Barkley?

[Al Autry]

08:59 PM on 07/05/2011

Tom did give the AOK for "Free Falling" when her election results come in...

[LisaO8]

08:59 PM on 07/05/2011

I think playing "Taps" would be more fitting for her...

[Bill J4321]

08:14 PM on 07/05/2011

And seriously folks, wouldn't that song be more appropriate for her husband?

[LisaO8]

08:57 PM on 07/05/2011

he can only pray it away for so long;)

[JackDermand]

08:46 AM on 07/05/2011

When will these Republicans wake up to the fact that ALL the good bands and ALL the great songwriters are LIBERALS? And thank God for that! Believe me, The Beatles, The Doors, The Who, The Stones, we're NOT for Richard Nixon! And Bruce and Petty were never for Regan and Bush. Sorry, all the good bands are left wing. That's a fact. Live with it Republicans. You guys can have Toby Keith. Losers.

[Bill J4321]

08:13 PM on 07/05/2011

That leaves cuntry music for the mouth-breathers.

Spelling error intentional.

[am10]

06:25 AM on 07/09/2011

Toby is a Democrat.

[Robin Eublind]

12:30 PM on 07/03/2011

I would like to think that Mr. Petty would allow her to use "Tweeter And The Monkey Man"

"And the walls came down all the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell"

[MrsFreeze]

10:37 PM on 07/02/2011

a more appropriate song for her would be "breakdown." ... especially the "your eyes give you away" part.

[Cameron Hodge]

05:07 PM on 07/02/2011

Wow. For the people who are supposed to stand for the ideals of the free market and personal propriety, the GOP sure seems to have no problem just helping themselves to other people's intellectual property...

[Seven Teenatheart]

01:09 PM on 07/02/2011

What a way to start a Presidential campaign - by stealing the use of someone's intellectual property.

*sigh*
Not my idea of Presidential.....

[weblore]

02:40 AM on 07/02/2011

If she would have chose something original, like "Call Me" by Blondie, I still wouldn't have voted for her because she's a lunatic, but I would have thought it was funny.

[AuntInAZ]

08:52 PM on 07/01/2011

This says it about as well as any statement I've read yet re this issue:

"I just think it's really not cool for artists to be misrepresented by things they don't believe in with their intellectual property," said Nancy Wilson. (from the group Heart re Sarah Palin using their song 'Barracuda')

[styhurst]

07:17 PM on 07/01/2011

Those silly Republicans, when will they realize music is only for Democrats.

[joeThibo]

08:18 AM on 07/02/2011

get real!!

[LisaO8]

08:58 PM on 07/05/2011

Bo Derek could sing a song for her. ha! ha! ha!

[Davest]

05:32 PM on 07/01/2011

If Bachman is the epitome of an "American Girl" our country is in deeper trouble than I thought.....

[ALoayza]

11:39 AM on 07/01/2011

Being an artist I understand that artists don't like it when people who don't support free thought and consistently defund the arts use the work of an artist to gin up a crowd into an emotional uplifting spirit that the artist intended. But then someone who desperately needs to be liked by more people than just her 50-70 year old baggers searches for a hit that EVERYONE loved, to hopefully put a smile on the crowd's faces before they have to hear the excrement that follows it. It's like Michelle Bachman is the obese politician from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou jumping into the moment of the song for political gain. Not that Tom Petty's amazing classic was going to make as huge of a difference as Clooney's song in the movie, but you get my drift. The Republican Party hates free thinking and defunds art FIRST every time since Reagan. Personal Political Advocacy Ahead: The Republican Party should not be allowed to use Art Anywhere in their Campaigns without paying huge sums to the National Endowment for the Arts... minimum $5 Million Each Piece of Work. That should be a feeble bare minimum attempt to balance the level of creative intelligence and creativity that conservatives have been attempting to silence since the beginning of Art.

[IrishRed1952]

01:46 PM on 07/01/2011

I am 58 years old and I hate her, got nothing to do with age!

[ALoayza]

10:56 AM on 07/10/2011

And you obviously aren't a Tea Party Member. I was talking about 50-70 year old Tea Party Members, aka "baggers", not all 50-70 year olds.

[gevan]

11:30 AM on 07/01/2011

Play Lesley Gore's "It's My Party (and I'll Cry If I Want To)" instead.