The latest attempt at a cash-grab revival of Sublime – despite their chief songwriter, lead vocalist and most prominent figure being dead for 13 years – is a cheap and disrespectful stain on the band’s legacy; I’ve been saying it for months now. A Los Angeles judge apparently agrees, and has shut down an effort by former members to perform under the name.
The preliminary injunction was issued this morning in a trademark lawsuit filed by the estate of the band’s lead singer Bradley Nowell. Nowell died of a drug overdose in 1996, but surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have continued to perform. For years they played as the Long Beach Dub All-Stars but recently they reincarnated the Sublime name when they recruited newcomer Rome Ramirez as lead vocalist.
Nowell’s family didn’t approve. Prior to the band’s awkward, defiantly triumphant performance at the Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival in October, the Bradley Nowell estate and merchandising entity filed a trademark infringement suit in the US District Court in Los Angeles.
“Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime,” the Nowell family posted on the band’s MySpace page. “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.”
Judge Howard Matz agrees with the family and has asked the representing law firm to draw up a written injunction for him to sign.
“We are gratified the Court ruled in our favor and found that Bud, Eric and Rome could not use the name Sublime without first obtaining permission from Brad’s heirs,” Nowell’s family said in a statement. “We believe this will help protect and preserve Brad’s musical legacy.”
