Johnny Cash’s Label Hits White Supremacist Radio Show With Cease and Desist

Stormfront Radio had been using his cover of “I Won’t Back Down” as theme music
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American Recordings and Universal Music Group (UMG)—the label and parent company behind Johnny Cash‘s recordings—have sent a cease and desist letter to a white nationalist site over its use of his music, NPR reports. Stormfront has been playing Cash’s cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” (from his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man) as theme music for its Stormfront Radio program. In the letter, American Recordings and UMG stated they ”have not licensed, granted permission, or otherwise authorized” Stormfront’s founder Don Black or online host Rense Radio Network to use the song. Black was a former Klu Klux Klan leader.

After receiving the letter, Stormfront Radio replaced Cash with the old Confederate standard “The South Will Rise Again” on September 6. Host Patrick Slattery told listeners, “These Jews are trying to crack down on us every way they can.” He added, “We will not be able to use ‘I Won‘t Back Down’ as theme music anymore, but I can guarantee you, we’re not backing down.”

Last month, the Cash family—including Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, Tara, and John Carter Cash—denounced a white supremacist who was filmed wearing a Johnny Cash T-shirt. They shared that they were “sickened by the association” in a Facebook post. Read Pitchfork’s Is White Power Music Finally Getting Booted from the Internet?