Rock or Rip-off? Band draws lawsuit, and crowds in Elkhart

ELKHART, Ind. - Guess Who’s Getting Sued?

Two former founding members of the Canadian Rock Band, "The Guess Who" known for hits like "American Woman" and "These Eyes" are suing their old band mates.

The current lineup is on tour, using the original band name, and took the stage at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart Friday evening.

Excited fans arriving at the show said they were eager to rock out regardless of the controversy, however the former lead singer of the band, Burton Cummings told ABC57 they paid to see “nothing more than a glorified cover band”.

That’s why he and Randy Bachman are suing their former band mates Jim Kale and Garry Peterson for what they are calling a scheme to get more folks to buy tickets to their tour.

"I sang them all. I either wrote or co-wrote most of them and now imposters are going out and calling themselves The Guess Who, they are using original records and pasting them to the fake band,” said Cummings in an interview on Friday.

Peterson, the bands original drummer is still an active member of the current band, but Cummings said even he may not be in attendance of tonight’s show.

"They’re playing tonight in what Indiana? Well Peterson is in Florida; nobody knows where Kale is. So, who are these 5 guys? still aren’t the guess who responsible for the records,” said Cummings.

Cummings also argues that the group has used the image of the new members on all their original tracks on streaming services, social media, and for promotional purposes.

"It is false advertising, point blank, this is a cover band, they are using the real records to draw people to their shows. So, it’s not fair. It’s not right, and we are finally doing something about it,” added Cummings.

The Lerner Theatre said in a statement, “The Lerner is aware of the lawsuit, but as a rental facility, we contract with promoters.

The lineup of "The Guess Who" performing at The Lerner has been posted since the show was announced.

ABC57 reached out to the band touring as ‘The Guess Who’ for comment and they said they will be releasing a statement on Monday.