Calls from politicians, including a former PM, and others to ban US hip hop artist Macklemore from singing his hit Same Love at the NRL grand final have seemingly backfired, with the song shooting to the top of the Australian iTunes charts.
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Despite being first released in 2012 by the Seattle-based rapper and his co-writer Ryan Lewis, the song surged to the top of the list on Thursday night, replacing another Macklemore track Good Old Days from his latest album GEMINI.
The grammy-nominated song became an anthem for same-sex couples around the world, reaching No.5 in Billboard's Top 40 in the United States and No.1 in both Australia and New Zealand in 2013.
While Macklemore was announced as the grand final entertainment back in September 1, it was only this week that a former rugby league player Tony Wall called for NRL boss Todd Greenberg to "Take LGBTIQ politics out of the NRL".
"As a former NRL player married for the past 12 years to my wife and with five children, I demand that the NRL reconsider its political position and remove LGBTIQ politics out of the awesome sport of Rugby League", Mr Wall said in the online petition, which has gathered more than 12,000 signatures as of Thursday evening.
The movement was quickly endorsed by former prime minister Tony Abbott, who tweeted: "Footy fans shouldn't be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!"
Footy fans shouldn't be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport! https://t.co/1uRh4eZ61Z??? Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) September 27, 2017
Other prominent backers of the ban include the leader of Bob Katter and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who went on Sunrise on Thursday and suggested Australian singers John Farnham or Daryl Braithwaite as alternative.
The interview also saw Senator Hanson claim she had no idea who Macklemore was, before unleashing a critique of his music seconds later .
"A lot of his songs I've heard, you wouldn't even want to play them because of the lyrics," she said.
During a US radio interview, Macklemore responded to the outcry against the performance of the song for the NRL grand final.
"It's interesting because I am playing Same Love, and they are going through, right now, trying to legalise same-sex marriage," the rapper told The Cruz Show.
"I'm getting a lot of tweets from angry old white dudes in Australia. I think there is a petition today to ban me from playing.
"Imma go harder, Imma love."
