The estate of singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen denied the Trump campaign permission to use his hallmark song “Hallelujah” at any convention event or in campaign material, but the RNC featured it twice in Thursday’s production, Reuters reports.
Tori Kelly’s version of the song was played while fireworks exploded over the Washington Monument, gaudily spelling out “Trump” in the sky. Tenor Christopher Macchio then performed a more operatic version from a White House balcony.
“Had the RNC requested another song, ‘You Want it Darker’, for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approval of that song,” the estate managers said in a statement.
The sublime song, arguably the masterpiece of Cohen’s catalog, is likely best known through Jeff Buckley’s version, which has been featured in television shows like The West Wing, ER and NCIS. Buckley’s rendition ranked 259th on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.