LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – The Guess Who founding members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have sued former original members bassist Jim Kale and drummer Garry Peterson as well as the current band, alleging they’re misleading fans to believe the current group is the original Guess Who. Petersen is the only original member still playing in the current iteration of The Guess Who.
Cummings and Bachman have filed a lawsuit for more than $20 million over the use of Kale, Peterson and the current band members’ use of the Guess Who name. The duo alleges the defendants have assembled a band of hired musicians, which they call nothing more than a “cover band,” to perform, record albums and advertise performances using The Guess Who band name and trademark. In doing so, they are, therefore, “falsely misleading” the public and fans into believing Cummings and Bachman are performing with the group.
Winnipeg.ctvnews reports the lawsuit reads: “Defendants’ devious design to mislead the public is pervasive, including giving statements in interviews creating the false impression that the Cover Band is affiliated with or includes Plaintiffs.
Cummings and Bachman further stated that Kale and Peterson have allegedly been “concocting a deceptive scheme that has falsely led fans into buying tickets for the cover band’s live shows and implying that Cummings and Bachman are performing at the shows when in fact they have no affiliation with the cover band.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the current Guess Who’s actions have damaged the band’s legacy and hindered Bachman and Cummings from booking shows in the US.
In addition to the $20 million in damages Cummings and Bachman are seeking, they also want a court order instructing Kale and Peterson to make it crystal clear that they are not part of the group when advertising shows for the current iteration of the band.
“With this lawsuit, Randy and I hope to set the record straight and protect fans from imposters trying to rewrite history,” says Cummings in a statement. “Even after we’re gone, the legacy of The Guess Who will live on, and we want to make sure that legacy is restored and preserved truthfully.”
Adds Bachman, “Burton and I are the ones who wrote the songs and made the records. It’s Burton’s voice and my guitar playing on those albums. Anyone presenting and promoting themselves as The Guess Who are clones who are ripping off our fans and tainting the band’s legacy. It’s about time for the real story to come out.”
Cummings sang all of the Canadian rock band’s biggest hits, while many of those tunes were either written by Bachman or co-written by just the two of them, including “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “Undun,” and “No Time.”
Rolling Stone reports that Kale secured the trademark to the band’s name when the band was broken up, and Burton and Cummings were working as solo acts. Kale and Peterson now share the rights to the name.
“The ideal solution is that Peterson says he’ll retire, and we pay him a percentage off the top, and we can lease the name forever, or we buy it outright, and we’re free to go on,” said Bachman.
Bachman and Cummings have not toured as part of The Guess Who since the reunion tour in 2003 but have toured together multiple times, the most recent in 2022. Bachman recently relaunched his famous 1970s band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, who are currently touring and have dates well into 2024.
