90s punk band fuming after right-wing politician uses their hit song

Story by Robert Oliver • 

Chumawamba are not happy with a New Zealand politician (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)© Provided by Metro

British punk group Chumbawamba have ordered a populist New Zealand politician to stop using their most famous song during his campaign.

Winston Peters, the leader of the nationalist New Zealand First party and the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, has used the band’s 1990s smash hit Tubthumping at several of his events already.

But Chumbawamba, who originally formed back in 1982, have stepped in, telling Peters that they don’t agree with his views and have not given permission for him to use the song.

According to reports, the band, who split in 2012, have asked their record label to demand that Peters stop using their anthem Tubthumping at his various rallies.

Speaking to the BBC, Chumbawamba guitarist Boff Whalley said: ‘Chumbawamba wrote the song Tubthumping as a song of hope and positivity.’

Ahead of the election in 2023, following the resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the politician also referenced the song’s main lyrics in a speech.


‘Chumbawamba wrote the song Tubthumping as a song of hope and positivity.’ (Picture: Redferns)© Provided by Metro

New Zealand First form part of the country’s coalition government along with the much larger National Party, and Peters has walked on and walked off stages to the song since the government was formed.

Whalley continued: ‘It seems entirely odd that the ‘I get knocked down…’ refrain is being used by New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters as he barks his divisive, small-minded, bigoted policies during his recent speeches.’

In response, 78-year-old Peters has insisted that he isn’t using the song to make money, adding that he is yet to receive any official communication from the band or their label.


Populist politician Winston Peters has been using Chumbawamba’s music (Picture: Getty)© Provided by Metro


No cease and desist letters have yet been issued (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)© Provided by Metro

Despite not being sent to Peters officially, Whalley addressed him directly: ‘Chumbawamba would like to make it clear that we did not give permission for Peters to use the song and would ask him to stop using it to try to shore up his misguided political views.’

The song, originally released in 1997, reached number 2 in the UK charts and became an anthem associated with football crowds, eventually being certified Platinum in the UK.

Its famous lyric, ‘I get knocked down but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down’ has become a frequently repeated refrain and has been used in the soundtrack to numerous films, TV shows, and other live events.

The song was also a top 10 hit in Australia (being certified as Double Platinum there) and New Zealand upon its release, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

Chumbauwmba themselves have often been outspoken with their political beliefs, with Tubthumping itself containing an excerpt from Brassed Off, the 1996 political comedy-drama film which follows the effects of the privatisation of British coal mines.

This isn’t the first time the band have had to ask a politician to stop using their song during rallies after they ordered then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage to stop playing the song at his public appearances.

At the height of their fame, the band also poured a bucket of water over then-UK Deputy PM John Prescott in support of striking dock workers in Liverpool.

And in January last year Chumbawamba turned down £30,000 and declined a request to have Tubthumping used in a TV show starring Jeremy Clarkson.

‘So anyway today we turned down £30,000 for our song to be used for a trailer for Jeremy Clarkson’s new TV series,’ they said. ‘I can’t tell you how much satisfaction that gave us.’