Canadian rocker Bryan Adams released the anti-Trump protest song “51st State” on YouTube and other platforms to coincide with Canada Day, targeting annexation rhetoric and an escalating cross-border tariff dispute between the United States and Canada.
When President Trump periodically floated Canadian statehood on social media following his election win, the remarks touched off a cultural reaction north of the border. Mr. Trump argued that the United States subsidizes its northern neighbor and that Canadians would benefit economically from joining the union. Those proposals, combined with remarks from Elon Musk characterizing Canada as not a real country
, stung many north of the border. The rhetoric evolved into a trade and cultural flashpoint, culminating in trade penalties and retaliatory measures.
Bryan Adams and the Canada Day Anthem Release
Against that backdrop of rising political tension, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams dropped his protest single titled “51st State” on YouTube and other digital platforms. Timed to coincide with Canada Day, the track emphasizes Canadian identity and explicitly rejects the notion of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.
The release arrives amid an escalating cross-border tariff dispute. In February 2025, the administration imposed tariffs on Canadian goods, prompting Canada to implement retaliatory tariffs in a trade dispute that has continued to escalate in the time since.
Adams joins a lineage of songwriters taking direct aim at political figures through protest music. While artists from Eminem in 2016 with his track ‘Campaign Speech’ to Low Cut Connie in 2026 with ‘Livin in the USA’ have targeted domestic policy, racism, or the appropriation of American culture by MAGA reactionaries, Adams directs his protest toward national sovereignty and international trade bullying.
Mike Myers and High-Profile Cultural Rebuffs
Adams is not the only Canadian entertainer to push back against Washington’s annexation rhetoric. Comedian Mike Myers appeared wearing a “Never 51” hockey jersey in a Liberal Party advertisement alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Myers later wore a “Canada Is Not for Sale” T-shirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
In an interview with The New York Times regarding his choice of attire on television, Myers explained that the demonstration was not about drawing attention to himself.
“What happened came from my ankles and from my brain and from my heart, and it was not about me — it was about my country. I wanted to send a message home to say that I’m with you, you know.”
Mike Myers, via The Washington Times
Myers noted that the political rhetoric from the south had genuinely wounded public sentiment in Canada. What’s happened has really hurt our feelings,
Myers said, adding, We love America. We love you guys. We don’t understand what this madness is.
Music as a Counterweight to Political Machinery
When Low Cut Connie frontman Adam Weiner released ‘Livin in the USA’, he emphasized that the project was born from a desire to reclaim American art forms from oppressive political agendas.
This country goddamn right invented rock & roll, hip-hop, jazz, R&B.
Adam Weiner, via Rolling Stone
Whether through punk revivals like Jello Biafra updating “Nazi Trumps Fuck Off” for a modern political era, indie stalwarts like Superchunk examining latent societal darkness on ‘Cloud of Hate’, or national anthems like Adams’ 51st State
, artists continue to use their respective mediums to draw firm lines against political coercion. As tariff disputes persist and cross-border tensions hold steady, these musical dispatches serve as cultural records of a fractured diplomatic landscape.
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