For Republican presidential contenders, the first opponent in the fight for the party’s nomination is often the music industry.
Since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan was asked to stop using Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” things haven’t gotten any easier for the GOP.
From President George H.W. Bush in 1988, to Donald Trump just this month, Republicans often find playing their favorite music on the campaign trail can be an arduous task that often results in negative press, as their love for music goes unreciprocated by the artists who make it.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who officially entered the race Tuesday, won’t have to endure the negative impacts of an artist’s disapproval, according to POLITICO, as he got permission from rocker and fellow New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi to use his music during his upcoming run at the White House.
Christie formally launched his campaign Tuesday from his former high school in Livingston, New Jersey, and played Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
That’s okay, according to the New Jersey icon, who told POLITCO through his publicist: “My friendships are apolitical, and yes, I absolutely gave him permission to use my songs.”
Bon Jovi released the statement a day after he and his wife Dorothea hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in Red Bank, New Jersey. Billed as an “Evening with Hillary,” on Monday, prices ranged from $1,000 per person for open seating to $2,700 per person for priority seating.