Ex-Black Crowes Drummer Steve Gorman Files Royalties Lawsuit
Former Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, alleging he was owed an unknown amount of royalties.
Gorman, a member of the band during its first three stints between 1989 and 2015, filed paperwork at the Los Angeles Superior Court against singer Chris Robinson, guitarist Rich Robinson and the Black Crowes Partnership formed in 1991. His claims include breach of contract, Rolling Stone reported.
“Defendants have failed to perform their obligations in full accordance with the Partnership Agreement by, among other things, failing to pay Plaintiff amounts owed under the Partnership Agreement, denying Plaintiff access to inspect the Partnership’s books and records and improperly deducting unauthorized expenses from the royalty payments Plaintiff has received to date,” the filing read in part.
In a statement, Gorman said, “For more than five years, my attorneys and I have made repeated requests to review the Partnership’s books to confirm the accuracy of royalty payments and my share, but Chris and Rich have consistently ignored my rights under the partnership agreement.”
He added: “I regret that it has come to this, as I remain incredibly proud of the music we created as a band, but their conduct has left me with no choice but to ask a court to order them to give me this information, which I’m entitled to under our partnership agreement and the law.”
Gorman was not invited to return when the Black Crowes reunited in 2019 and was replaced by touring member Brian Griffin for their 2021 tour dates. “Steve was one of the incredibly negative and manipulative forces in the band that we really didn't want to deal with,” Rich Robinson said last year. "In order to get back, we really had to do this very specific purge where we focus on the two of us. ... We can be in charge of our own triggers, but if you have other people around that have an agenda, which a lot of the older people around did, it’s just going to crash and burn."