In September 2024, it was announced that founding Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings and lead guitarist Randy Bachman had acquired the rights to the band’s trademark. The settlement ended a lengthy legal dispute Bachman and Cummings had with the veteran Canadian rockers’ co-founders, bassist Jim Kale and drummer Gary Peterson, who’d controlled the group’s name and trademark for decades.
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The agreement opened up the possibility of Cummings and Bachman touring together as The Guess Who. In a recent interview with American Songwriter, though, Burton revealed that a reunion featuring him and Randy still may not happen.
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Since 2023, Bachman’s focus has been on a relaunched version of his post-Guess Who band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, whose current lineup also features Randy’s son, singer/guitarist Tal Bachman. Cummings explained that he believed Bachman is more interested in playing with BTO than taking part in a Guess Who reunion.
“Randy is full-fledged [into] BTO with his son Tal, so I don’t know,” Burton told American Songwriter. “You know, I’m perfectly content with my own band, and Randy seems really focused on his son Tal, and that’s fine.”
He added, “I don’t have kids, so I don’t know what that would be like, but … I’m sure that his main focus now is to pass the legacy on to Tal. So, I don’t want to be in the middle of that. I’m not in the Tal Bachman business, you know? And I don’t want it to be Bachman-Cummings-Bachman. That’s not right.”
Having said that, Cummings noted, “[T]here may be some back Bachman-Cummings shows, and there may not.”
The last time the two former bandmates toured together was in 2002, as The Bachman-Cummings Band.
About Cummings’ Current Solo Plans
Cummings recently released his first solo studio album in 16 years, A Few Good Moments. He also has been marking his 60-year music career with an ongoing tour he launched this past summer and is currently scheduled into the spring of 2025.
Burton told American Songwriter, “Right now, I’m very happy with my band. I’m very happy with the new album. And, you know, the band I have now is stronger than any band I’ve ever had, so that’s all I can tell you.”
More About Acquiring the Guess Who Trademark
Cummings explained that, for him, the most important aspect of acquiring the Guess Who trademark was to stop what he refers to as “the fake cover band” from touring and releasing albums under the Guess Who name.
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Peterson and Kale had launched their own version of The Guess Who with other musicians that toured frequently and released a couple of studio albums in recent years. Cummings and Bachman’s lawsuit maintained that the so-called “fake” Guess Who had been using photos and recordings by the original band to promote its concerts.
“It wasn’t so much for me getting the name back to be out there with Bachman,” Cumings told American Songwriter. “It was stopping the fake cover band. And these guys … would go to meet-and-greets and hold up original Guess Who albums and sign them, as if they were the real guys. It’s not right. And it went on for far too long, and that’s over with. There is no fake Guess Who.”
He added, “And now I’m able to come back to the States, to my American followers, and say, ‘Look, it’s me. I’m the guy that sang the songs. I’m the guy that wrote the songs, and played the records.’ And that’s what makes me the happiest, is it’s like a reemergence for me in the States.”
Cummings’ and Bachman’s 2025 Tour Plans
Cummings, who celebrates his 77th birthday on December 31, wraps up 2024 with a New Year’s Eve concert in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The 2025 edition of Burton’s 60th anniversary tour kicks off with a lengthy U.S. leg. His stateside itinerary currently features 30 concerts, kicking off January 11 in Chandler, Arizona, and plotted out through a March 29 performance in Columbus, Ohio. He also will take part in the Rock Legends Cruise XII in mid-February.
Bachman, meanwhile, has a 2025 Canadian tour lined up with Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The trek runs from an April 1 show in Victoria, British Columbia, through a May 8 concert in Halifax, Nova Scotia. BTO also have a U.S. gig on July 29 in Elk Grove, Illinois.
Tickets for Cummings’ concerts and Bachman-Turner Overdrive shows can be purchased now via a variety of outlets, including StubHub.
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