Queen guitarist says Donald Trump did not have permission to use 'We Are the Champions'

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Queen guitarist Brian May slammed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for using the band's "We are the Champions" song without permission.

On his website, the highly regarded musician issued a stern statement denouncing the usage of the song.

"I've had an avalanche of complaints – some of which you can see in our 'Letters' page – about Donald Trump using our 'We Are The Champions' track as his 'theme' song on USA TV," May wrote. "This is not an official Queen statement, but I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given. We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue. Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool."

May is the latest of several musicians to blast Trump for using their music without permission.

In September, singer Michael Stipe gave perhaps the most angry response after Trump used the band's "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" at a rally, with "Go [expletive] yourselves, the lot of you – you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men ... Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign."