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.
Lost a lot of respect for these guys because of this. Shame on them. There can be no Sublime without Brad. They just weren’t making enough money and decided hey, let’s just call ourselves Sublime again and we will sell a lot more albums and make a lot more money. No class
As two of the three original members of the band.. I think they deserved the right to use the “sublime” name. LBDA was a completely different band than sublime so get your facts straight before you make an opinion. Sublime with Rome is a continuation of Sublime and they wanted to continue using the songs that they wrote as well. Brad did not write everything as most people just assume. If you knew anything about sublime, you would have know that Brad’s parents literally asked Bud and Eric to find a new lead singer, as they did 13 years later when they formed SWR. So if anything, the Nowells are being classless by attempting to not let Brad’s legacy not live on.
Your right but long beach dub Allstars is also a continuation of sublime and they play sublime songs at their concerts. I was at one last week. But that isn’t sublime as much as sublime with Rome is. Anyways Brad’s estate gets a cut like he was in the band still. And they still use the name. It was us fans called them sublime with Rome and it stuck. Rome is a great addition to this music scene.
Then you have no idea how little talent they actually have in regards to the music they are known for. Brad Nowell did almost all of it or had his hands on it and they loved him for it. This is a cash grab and just then once again trying to make money off of a man they were lucky enough to be near when he needed a drummer and a bassist. They were very vocal with how little they actually did and gave all the credit to brad. It was his wish and it was his idea. It was his band and without him they have been nothing more than mediocre.
Sublime rocks I have the original 40oz unreal time we lived through
Alice in chains is still rockin I’m sure brad would not have had a problem with his “family” as a band using the name THEY created. Take your head home. Dogs are running wild in the street and nobody seems to know what to do about it