Sublime bassist Eric Wilson loses courtroom battle

Sublime’s bass player, Eric Wilson, has lost a legal battle with the estate of Brad Nowell, the band’s singer, over the rights to use the band’s name.

For the years after Brad’s untimely passing in 1996, the surviving members performed in a group they formed called the Long Beach Dub All Stars, but recently they decided to return to the Sublime moniker after the addition of guitarist and singer Rome Ramirez. The Nowell family protested, saying, “it was Brad’s expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark ‘Sublime’ under his own name.”

The Nowell estate took legal action to stop Wilson, as well as drummer Bud Gaugh, before their appearance as Sublime at the Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival, though it was not in time to stop them at that performance. Last week, the dispute was settled when a Los Angeles judge ultimately sided with the family.

Tags: Eric Wilson, Sublime

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