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Foo Fighters fury after McCain uses song for campaign

09/10/2008

The Foo Fighters have requested that US presidential hopeful John McCain stop using their song My Hero in his bid for the White House.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the US rockers said the Republican senator's use of the song has been "perverting the original sentiment" of the track from The Colour and the Shape album and requested that he ask artists' permission in future.

"This isn't the first time the McCain campaign has used a song without making any attempt to get approval or permission from the artist," the statement read.

"It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property.

"The saddest thing about this is that My Hero was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential," the statement continued.

"To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.

"We hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song - and start asking artists' permission in general!"

The band, led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, also called on young Americans to make their most of their right to vote in the upcoming US election.