Heart‘s Nancy Wilson and her bandmate and sister Ann Wilson are proud daughters of a Marine Corps major, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist said in a pointed Instagram post on Saturday (June 14) that their band’s music is not meant for political purposes. “Earlier today, during a parade held in support of our nation’s military and organized by President Donald Trump, the song ‘Barracuda’ by Heart was played without permission or authorization from us,” she said of the playing of the group’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 11 1977 hit during the military showcase.
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“‘Barracuda,’ written and performed by Ann and I, is a powerful piece of music that was never intended for political use,” continued Wilson, who drove home her point by wearing a “No Kings But Us” hat on a day when a historic number of Americans took to the streets from coast to coast to protest against what they called the creeping authoritarianism of the second Trump administration in a series of “No Kings” protests.
“As daughters of a U.S. Marine Corps major, we hold a deep and abiding respect for the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces,” wrote Wilson. “On a day meant to honor that service, it’s important that music used in such settings reflects not only the tone of the event but also the wishes of the artists who created it.🤘🏻”
According to reports. instrumental versions of Heart’s “Barracuda” and Journey’s “Separate Ways (World’s Apart)” were among the songs played at the event that appeared to draw modest crowds at a reported price of $25-$45 million, while the ACLU said that an estimated five million people took part in more than 2,100 “No Kings” rallies across the nation, making it the largest protest in the nation’s history.
Trump’s military parade, which was intended to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, also fell on the president’s 79th birthday. The parading of military hardware through the streets of the nation’s capital is an unusual site in the U.S., though Trump has long mused out loud about wanting to hold such an event. The D.C. event came amidst a day of dramatic news, including Iran and Israel battering each other with missiles in what is ramping up to be a major escalation of hostilities between the two nations. In addition, officials in Minnesota launched a massive manhunt for the suspected shooter who assassinated a Democratic state legislator in that state and attempted assassination of another; the now-captured 57-year-old man, Vance Boelter, allegedly had a list of 70 other potential targets in his car.
Nancy Wilson has long objected to politicians using her band’s music at their rallies, and earlier this year she said she feels “embarrassed” to call herself an American at this time. “We were kind of embarrassed at that time to call ourselves American because of the dirty politics of the Vietnam War,” Wilson said of the period that inspired some of the band’s most beloved hits, including the anti-Vietnam war single “Crazy On You,” whose lyrics she added are relevant again. “To be as subtle as possible, it’s more embarrassing now.”
She noted that “Barracuda” was initially written about a sleazy industry figure at the time, though Wilson twisted it to fit the current commander in chief, saying the song is “even more relevant in the salacious billionaire culture with the grab-them-by-the-(expletive) mentality,” the latter phrase a reference to an infamous sexist comment from Trump.
The Wilsons were also peeved when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin played “Barracuda” at the 2008 Republican National Convention, sending a cease and desist order to the former Alaska governor demanding she stop using the track as her unofficial theme song. In 2018, singer Ann Wilson told The Hill that any politician was free to use “Barracuda” on the campaign trail in 2020. “I think anybody but Trump,” she added.
