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Beyoncé gives Kamala Harris permission to use “Freedom” as official 2024 campaign song

Beyoncé gives Kamala Harris permission to use “Freedom” as official 2024 campaign song

Beyoncé has given Kamala Harris permission to use her hit Freedom It was announced as the official anthem of her 2024 presidential campaign.

The vice president made quite the entrance on Monday when she performed to the tune of the song during her first visit to her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, since it was renamed after Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

Harris, 59, was greeted by campaign staff and supporters as the penultimate song from the singer’s 2016 album Lemonade, with rapper Kendrick Lamar, played in the background.

Just a few hours before her performance, representatives of the 32-time Grammy winner are said to have given her permission to Freedom as the anthem of her election campaign, a source told CNN.

The song, with the lyrics “I keep running because a winner never quits,” has clear political undertones, said its author Carla Marie Williams. Fader shortly after the release of the hit.

“It’s a spiritual song, but it’s a political song because we say we’re going to keep marching,” Williams said.

Beyoncé has not yet officially endorsed the vice president in the 2024 presidential race, although numerous female stars – including Charli XCX, Katy Perry, Cardi B and Kesha – have publicly expressed their support for Harris.

Beyoncé's representatives have reportedly granted Harris the rights to use her 2016 hit for her 2024 presidential campaign.
Beyoncé’s representatives have reportedly granted Harris the rights to use her 2016 hit for her 2024 presidential campaign. (Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Harris’ request for permission to use the hit came after the co-author of a song used at Donald Trump’s rallies expressed his disapproval.

At the Republican National Convention last week – days after surviving an assassination attempt – Trump took the stage to the song Wait, I’m coming.

Co-writer of the 1966 Sam & Dave hit, David Porter, said The Independent that the 78-year-old former president never asked for permission to use his music in his political campaign.

“I can say that I don’t want my songs to be used for political campaigns,” he said. “We make music to uplift people, not to divide them.”

On Sunday, Biden ended his re-election campaign and offered Harris his “full support” as his Democratic Party’s successor candidate.

Harris took the podium at a campaign staff meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday and heard the song
Harris took the podium at a campaign staff meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday and heard the song (AFP/Getty)

In the first 24 hours of her candidacy, Harris’ campaign raised a record-breaking $81 million – more than Biden raised in the first two months of his own candidacy.

Now the vice president appears to have won enough delegates to run as the Democratic Party’s nominee against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, according to a poll conducted by Related Press.

“Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state delegation helped make our campaign a success,” she said in a statement.

Biden, meanwhile, will finish the remainder of his term and “focus exclusively on carrying out my duties as president” until Election Day in November, he said in a statement on Sunday.