Prince Estate, Other Notable Artists Deny Music For ‘Melania’ Doc
- Prince's estate blocked use of his music due to his opposition to Trump
- Guns N' Roses and Grace Jones also denied rights to their music
- Some unexpected artists enthusiastically agreed to have their music used
As we all know, award-winning recording artist Prince is a timeless icon and a true legend. His music speaks for itself, which makes sense as to why it can be difficult sometimes for productions to get his music cleared, but not impossible. Two of his songs actually were cleared to be used in this year’s series finale of Stranger Things, one being the classic ‘Purple Rain’ and the second song ‘When Doves Cry.’
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Though Stranger Things had the opportunity to use his music in the finale, Melania Trump is not so lucky. Allegedly, the Prince estate has stopped his music from being included in what some would call a controversial documentary titled ‘Melania,’ which is about Melania Trump’s life leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration that took place in January 2025.
Producer Marc Beckman, who has also served as a long-term senior advisor for the first lady, gave insight into the film’s music choice. Beckman claims the Prince estate denied the rights to use the icon’s songs because he would never want his songs associated with Donald Trump.
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Producer Beckman also claims that originally, he was told he could get the rights to a Prince song, but that was until the estate stepped in. Beckman says, “Literally, we were ready to go, and this lawyer that manages the estate was like, ‘Prince would never want his song associated with Donald Trump.’ And we’re like, ‘But it’s not a Donald Trump film! He comes into the movie once in a while, but this is all about Melania. It’s not political.’ And that guy blocked it. It’s so ridiculous.”
It’s also said that, apparently, Guns N ‘ Roses, along with Grace Jones, denied the rights to use their music as well. However, according to the producer, there were some surprising artists whom he has declined to name due to the fear that those artists may lose their fan base, but were enthused to be included in the movie he shared. “Some of the artists you would never think would say yes jumped on it right away. I was like, ‘Wow, I love this person even more now.’ ”
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In an interview, Beckman says, “It’s funny — Radiohead is one of my all-time favorite bands. For them to have come out publicly and distanced themselves, I think that’s just part of the unfortunate time we’re living in. We went out and created a nice film that doesn’t get into any kind of political policy or anything like that. The music at that moment is so perfect, honestly, I was so thrilled to be able to use it,” he also adds that they paid top dollar for all of the music and were thrilled to have that song in the film.
Upon its theatrical release on January 30, Melania earned 7.04 million at the opening weekend. The movie was backed by a 40 million deal with Amazon, MGM studios, and a $35 million marketing campaign. The film currently has a 11% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which is slightly up from its 8% rating the week of its release.
