Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst slaps Universal Music with £153 million lawsuit
Over alleged unpaid royalties
Nu metal torchbearers Limp Bizkit are suing Universal Music Group for a whopping $200 million (around £153 million) over alleged unpaid royalties and profits.
Vocalist and band co-founder Fred Durst filed legal proceedings at a federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday (8th October) seeking the huge payout.
The papers claim that due to a significant flaw in Universal's royalty system, Limp Bizkit were owed millions of dollars.
Universal has "wrongfully defrauded (the) Plaintiffs out of millions of dollars", and owes them "in excess" of $200 million, the legal papers read.
"UMG’s failure to issue royalty statements in particular from 1997-2004 — the height of the band’s fame and during periods in which they made record-breaking sales — with respect to its most popular albums suggests that UMG was intentionally concealing the true amount of sales, and therefore royalties, due and owing to Limp Bizkit in order to unfairly keep those profits for itself," Durst and the band said.
They also allege that Universal's royalty statements do not reflect the band's "massive explosion" in popularity over the past decade.
Elsewhere, the suit reads: "According to UMG’s royalty statements, Plaintiffs’ accounts had been payable starting in 2019, and then fraudulently reclassified as 'unrecouped' to prevent payment.
"Had Plaintiffs not discovered this fraud, Plaintiffs have every reason to believe that UMG would have found a way to fraudulently turn its positive accounts back into negative “unrecouped” accounts, as it had done in the past, to continue to avoid its payment obligations in perpetuity.
"Defendants has knowingly performed acts, including but not limited to, failing to properly compute Plaintiffs’ royalties, failing to provide accurate royalty or profit statements, failing to notify Plaintiffs of positive royalty or profit balances, improperly (and fraudulently) calculating royalties, profits, and recoupments, failing to timely pay royalties and profits, intentionally misrepresenting royalties and profits owed to Plaintiffs, and systematically designing and implementing a system to prevent Plaintiffs from obtaining their royalties and profits."
Limp Bizkit are seeking at least $200 million in general and special damages as well as punitive damages and declaratory relief. They are also demanding the return of Limp Bizkit’s copyright.
Universal are yet to respond to the lawsuit.
The 20 greatest nu metal songs:
20. Linkin Park - Faint
The second single from Linkin Park's second album Meteora, the perfectly succinct Faint clocks in at just over 2 minutes 40 seconds and is classic early LP, with a face-ripping breakdown that was always a live favourite.
19. Slipknot - Duality
Starting with one of the most iconic intros in nu metal, accompanied by arguably one of the greatest videos of all time, and featuring definitively the greatest baseball bat / keg interaction ever recorded, Duality is a stone-cold anthem that still gets any crowd going, and frankly deserves to be higher in this list.
18. Drowning Pool - Bodies
Another metal club night classic, incredibly Bodies was Drowning Pool's first ever single. It went on to feature in countless films, sporting events, and – controversially – in Guantanamo Bay, where it was apparently played to prisoners repeatedly for periods of up to 10 days continuously.
17. System of a Down - Toxicity
Hands down the song with the most complicated time signature on this list, Toxicity is the perfect example of SOAD's trademark use of beautiful melodies to make brutal riffs seem even heavier, which the black / white video highlights visually. Compared to some of the more straightforward "drop tuned 4 chord" artists in the genre, some have questioned whether System Of A Down are a nu metal band. They certainly verge more towards progressive metal on this track. Indeed, one of the main problems critics have with the label "nu metal" is precisely the wide array of artists lumped in together; you'd certainly never say that Evanescence and SOAD were similar. The song's meaning is based around the group's native LA, which they referred to as "toxic city". Clever stuff.
16. Deftones - Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)
Released back in 1998, Deftones' second commercial single is one of the older tunes on our list. Some would question if it is truly nu metal; supposedly based on Depeche Mode song 'Never Let Me Down Again', it has more of a dreamy alt-rock feel than the monstrous riffs that would come later. Deftones themselves certainly didn't think they were nu metal, with Chino Moreno saying "We told motherf---ers not to lump us in with nu metal because when those bands go down we aren't going to be with them". Still, a banger.
15. Deftones - My Own Summer (Shove It)
The second Deftones tune in our list, their 1997 anthem is definitely nu metal. That menacing drop tuned riff that descends relentlessly, the ferocious screamed chorus, the frustration in Chino's lyrics. The video, featuring the band playing on platforms at sea surrounded by shark-infested water has always been one of the mainstays of Kerrang! TV.
14. Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
Amy Lee wrote the song about getting out of an abusive relationship and being seen (by her future husband no less) for who she really was. Ironically given that background, the record label forced Evanescence to add a male vocalist to the track, against Lee's wishes, insisting that they would not release a metal album with a female vocalist and that radio stations wouldn't play female-fronted rock. Paul McCoy, from labelmates 12 Stones, stepped up to add his vocals (which Amy Lee at least got to write). The joke was on the misogynists: Amy Lee has gone on to become an inspirational force of nature in the music industry, winning two Grammy's and nominated for five more. The video is a textbook example of 00s green screen, but holds up a lot better than some of the others on this list.
13. Linkin Park - Papercut
One of Chester Bennington's favourite Linkin Park songs, the opening track on Hybrid Theory is pure unadulterated nu metal: a hip hop beat, drop-tuned palm-muted guitars, turbtable scratching, rap lyrics interspersed with metal vocals, and a baffling video featuring dodgy hairstyles. Mike Shinoda summed it up: "I always felt like 'Papercut' was so much of the band in one song."
12. Slipknot - Wait And Bleed
It's hard to explain now, nearly a quarter of a century down the line, just how scary Slipknot seemed to mainstream society when they emerged in a maelstrom of ferocity in 2000. The creepy masks, the brutal music, the sheer presence of no fewer than 9 seemingly unhinged band members. Their debut single Wait And Bleed certainly helped; written by the late great Joey Jordison, Corey Taylor penned lyrics about "that switch in your head that can go at any moment." The stop-motion video, featured all manner of unsettling maggot-based imagery.
11. Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)
The first entry on our chart for the mighty Bizkit, when the group released this single from the ludicrously named 'Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water' album in 2000 it was in-es-ca-pa-ble. Intended by the band as a tongue in cheek send up of their fame following the success of their 1999 album 'Significant Other', Fred Durst's trademark red cap was catapulted to further heights after the iconic video. Fun fact: The original version of the song was actually the Urban Assault Vehicle version which most people assume is a remix and appeared on the same album. Fred Durst had created the hip hop track with DMX, Method Man and Redman, but when he presented it to the rest of Limp Bizkit, the band thought it would also work as a rock song.
10. Linkin Park - Crawling
Undoubtedly one of Chester Bennington's most incredible vocal performances (listen to Chester's isolated vocals for a demonstration of sheer power), he also revealed it was the one track that "has caused me the most trouble live". Understandable when you learn the meaning of the song, Chester's long and difficult battle with drug and alcohol abuse. The video was another Kerrang! TV classic, showing a girl (Katelyn Rosaasen) in an abusive relationship retreating into a mental prison of dark crystals, before shattering it and emerging triumphantly. If you want goosebumps, watch Chester and Chris Cornell duet on Crawling live, and witness two of the most powerful voices in rock belting it out.
9. System of a Down - Chop Suey!
Arguably the most bats--t crazy song on this list, Chop Suey was the first single off SOAD's 2001 album Toxicity. The distinctive video, showing Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian melting through each other was the first metal video to get over 1 billion views on YouTube, beating Metallica's Nothing Else Matters to the punch. It might be hard to decipher a meaning for a song as erratic as Chop Suey (particularly as the line "Father into your hands I commend my spirit" was picked at random by Serj Tankian from Rick Rubin's book collection), but guitarist Daron Malakian explained it's about how people are thought of, depending on how they die: "If I were to die from a drug overdose, everyone would say I deserved it because I abused drugs, hence the line 'Angels deserve to die.'"
8. Linkin Park - Numb
The closing track on Meteora is textbook Linkin Park. Chester's vocals flit from angelic verses to the raucous chorus, whilst layers of guitars, pianos, turntables and drums pulsate underneath. An absolute monster of a song, it sold over 4 million copies in the US alone, and the subsequent Numb/Encore remix with Jay-Z was a huge hit too, selling a further 3 million copies. The video was shot in Prague, and features the stunning St Vitus Cathedral, although the scenes of the band performing inside the cathedral were actually filmed in LA, as Chester was suffering from severe abdominal and back pains during the Prague shoot.
7. Disturbed - Down With The Sickness
OOH-WAH-AH-AH-AH! You only need to play a metalhead the opening drum beats of Disturbed's 1999 single to get that five syllable guttural response. Dan Donegan's thunderous riff and Mike Wengren's tribal beats drive this nu metal classic along, but it's David Draiman's belting voice that adds the power. According to Draiman the famous opening sound was pure fluke: "There used to just be a pause. We used to pause, it was for dramatic impact and there was nothing. One practice I just went, 'Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah.'"
6. Linkin Park - One Step Closer
Linkin Park's debut single, released in August 2000, was our first introduction to the band, and what an intro it was! The iconic green-tinged music video with floating ninjas, strange men in cloaks, and Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda's blonde and red hairstyles. And then there's that breakdown – go to any live footage of LP playing One Step Closer, and skip to three quarters of the way through to watch a crowd absolutely explode as Chester screams "SHUT UP!"
5. Korn - Blind
ARE YOU READY?? The oldest song on this list and arguably the first ever nu metal song, Korn laid the foundations for the genre when they released this back in 1994. In fact the song is even older, having been played live by Jonathan Davis' pre-Korn group SexArt in the early 90s. Korn guitarist Munky explained when he first saw them play it: "Head and I saw them play at some little club and I remember thinking the riff was pretty cool – it was in a different key, but still really heavy." Members of SexArt were eventually credited as writers on later Korn compilation albums. That being said, it probably should have a few more - that famous intro is actually a rip-off of Primus' 1990 single 'Too Many Puppies', whilst the bass outro is from Cypress Hill's 'Lick A Shot'. Jonathan Davis: "I've said it a billion times, but if it wasn't for Cypress Hill there would be no Korn."
4. Korn - Freak On A Leash
BOOMMM NA-DA NOOM NA-NAH-MENA. Another pivotal song in the nu metal genre featuring another standout Jonathan Davis vocal moment, Korn's 1998 mega single had to be retired from MTV's Total Request Live because the superb video (which featured bullet-time a year before The Matrix!) was requested so much. That iconic beatbox scat breakdown was, much like Disturbed's "Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah" a spur-of-the-moment decision. Davis explained "I just felt like some percussive s—t… I was beatboxing because I love to beatbox". As for the meaning of the song? Despite Head saying he thought it was about "a kinky" thing, Davis said it's about "the music industry, entertainment in general – how the machine worked… Looking back on it, "Something takes a part of me" was: they were taking the fun out of making music and making it a business.
3. Papa Roach - Last Resort
Is there another genre with as many iconic introductions as nu metal? Papa Roach's only entry on our list was their debut single, going on to sell over 2 million copies in the US alone - not too shabby! The uncompromising lyrics about self-harm, depression and suicide were controversial on release and were often heavily censored on radio and music TV. But they also resonated with the nu metal audience who loved the fact that bands were addressing the struggles and emotions they were dealing with. It's arguable that nu metal opened the floodgates for emo and the more open and honest lyrics we see in today's pop and rock songs. The video reflects the inner angst of Papa Roach fans and was directed by music video legend Marcos Siega who also oversaw the likes of SOAD's 'Chop Suey!' blink-182's 'All The Small Things' and Alien Ant Farm's 'Movies' amongst many others.
2. Linkin Park - In The End
Arguably Linkin Park's signature song, In The End has, to-date, had over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. The staggeringly successful track was LP's fourth and final single from their blockbuster debut album Hybrid Theory and is Linkin Park's highest-charting single in the US, peaking at No.2. Hilariously, Chester Benington explained that he wasn't a fan of the song when he first heard it and didn't even want it on the album. When it became a smash hit, he realised that choosing singles wasn't his strong suit: "I basically decided at that point I don't know what the f—k I'm talking about… But, you know, now I love 'In The End' and I think it's such a great song." The song's meaning was explained by Mike Shinoda as "It just kind of runs itself around in a circle lyrically. And especially as a young person that's just how I felt, that's how we all felt, we just didn't know what to make of things." The video is peak nu metal, with plenty of CGI and prominent symbolism.
1. Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff
It had to be, didn't it? Break Stuff is everything that was great and everything that was awful about nu metal, all wrapped up in one of the most insanely catchy and downright furious songs ever written. A tune whose meaning is so blatantly evident, its entry on songfacts reads "It's about breaking stuff." A song that led to Bizkit being condemned after they played it at Woodstock '99 and the crowd erupted into scary scenes of violence. As with the best Limp Bizkit tracks, it's all about the (he says she says bull**t) combination of a brutal Wes Borland riff, tight-af John Otto drum beat and dumb-as-hell Fred Durst lyrics. For all the silliness of those words ("I pack a chainsaw, I'll skin your ass raw") they are the essence of nu metal – dissatisfaction, teenage angst, anger at the world.
The video is pure nu metal – moshing fans, DJ on turntables, a skatepark, some very questionable fashion and hair choices. Featuring Jonathan Davis, Eminem (with Fred Durst holding up his daughter Hailie just beforehand), Dre Dre, Snoop Dogg and Pauly Shore, it dropped in 2000 when MTV was at the peak of its powers and famous cameos were all the rage, so it's no surprise that it was on constant rotation from its release and won MTV's best rock video award the same year. Fun fact: a teenage Lily Aldridge - now famous supermodel and wife of Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill - is the fan singing to camera at 02:36. But let's be honest, the star of the show is Wes Borland, as always, sublimely weird in one of his trademark freakish outfits, blank black eyes, with his grisly rabbit mascot Lucy.
An explosive staple in Limp Bizkit's live sets, a guaranteed rager at any metal night, and truly a worthy winner!