Peter Gabriel Blasts Rush, Seeks Relevance

Upon finding out that Rush Limbaugh used a short clip from his track “Sledgehammer” to come back from break, Peter Gabriel suddenly went through the roof.

Here’s what he posted on Facebook:

Peter was appalled to learn that his music was linked to Rush Limbaugh’s extraordinary attack on Sandra Flute. [sic] It is obvious from anyone that knows Peter’s work that he would never approve such a use. He has asked his representatives to make sure his music is withdrawn and especially from these unfair aggressive and ignorant comments.

Two points deserve explication here. First, there is no way that Gabriel’s representatives had never heard that Rush used Gabriel’s music on his broadcast. It is well accepted in radio circles that short snippets of music are promotions for the music and do not generally require permission for use (Gabriel will undoubtedly claim copyright violation).

Second, given that Gabriel’s representatives likely knew that Rush was using the music, they were allowing him to promote Gabriel – and only now are they upset about it. In other words, they were happy to accept the best of Rush’s largesse and now want to dump on him in order to damage him. Typical Hollywood opportunism.