Legal Battle Erupts Over Kyuss Name
Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme taking legal action against former bandmates
Whilst Kyuss split in 1995 their fanbase has grown exponentially in recent years, not least because the band was the launchpad for Josh Homme before he formed Queens Of The Stone Age.
For the past two years the band - minus Homme - has been touring as Kyuss Lives! and there's some vague talk of a new album at some point in the future.
However, Homme and another former Kyuss member, bassist Scott Reeder, have now filed a federal lawsuit against the band's principle members John Garcia and Brant Bjork that "alleges trademark infringement and consumer fraud by Kyuss Lives!" Homme and Reeder released a statement yesterday via public relations firm Nasty Little Man:
"It sucks. To think we went to a meeting in January solely to help them with their request to continue Kyuss Lives! With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, Kyuss Lives! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name Kyuss. This is desperately what we were trying to avoid. It's a sad day for us and for John – but most of all for the fans. What a needless mess."
Oddly, Reeder had been playing bass with Kyuss Lives! while original bassist Nick Olivieri sorts out a variety of legal problems in the US.
Kyuss Lives! are on the bill at this year's Download Festival.