John McCain used Van Halen's "Right Now" during his big entrance in Ohio, following in the footsteps of President George W. Bush, who used the song during his 2004 re-election campaign. However, the band issued a statement which makes it clear that "permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given."

Van Halen apparently doesn't want to get involved in the presidential elections and said they are not endorsing either candidate. Their 1991 track Right Now, used during John McCain's entrance onto the Nutter Center stage to announce his choosing of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, was thus used without permission from the band.

However, copyright laws are ambiguous in this matter, although it appears that permission would be required. McCain already has legal problems for using songs without permission in his campaign, as he's already been sued by Jackson Browne for doing just that.

The classic rock group Van Halen recently enjoyed the most successful tour in their career. The band reunited with singer David Lee Roth and started a tour throughout the United States and Canada, which earned them more than $93 million. The tour started in Charlotte, N.C. on September 27, 2007 and finished this June in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Roth left the band in 1985, but he got together with guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen for the reunion tour. Bass player Michael Anthony was replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang, who is aged 17. Initially planned as a summer amphitheater tour for 2007, the reunion was temporarily put off, when Eddie Van Halen entered rehab in the spring of that year.

Many were skeptical about the tour due to Eddie’s health problems, but the singer made a powerful comeback. The fans also feared the old tensions between Roth and the Van Halen brothers would cause the tour to fail. But the tour seemed to go on harmoniously all the way. Nobody can know what happened behind the scenes though…However, following the unexpected success, the band said they already had other future plans together.

Van Halen was formed in 1974 and its self-titled 178 album became one of the biggest selling rock debuts of all time.