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Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings
Rock
Guess Who Is Coming Back? Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings Return Under With Their Classic Band Name
The recent settlement of a bitter dispute over ownership of the band's name allows its two legendary songwriters to now perform as The Guess Who, and they have announced their first live dates.
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Guess Who is returning? For the first time in over twenty years, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, the principal songwriters of that legendary Winnipeg rock band, will be performing together as The Guess Who.
It has just been announced that on January 31, 2026, the Guess Who will take to the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario, with more shows to be announced soon. Tickets are on sale now HERE.
Over the years, the dynamic duo of Bachman and Cummings have often performed together, as Bachman-Cummings, and played their classic Guess Who material, but not under that name, because of a long legal dispute with other former members of the band.
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The long-standing dispute over the band name the Guess Who began in 1978 when former bassist Jim Kale (fired from the group in 1972) asked Cummings for permission to use the Guess Who name for a single reunion concert. That was given, but in 1987, Kale discovered that the name the Guess Who had never been trademarked, and he filed registration applications with the United States trademark office for the band name the Guess Who.
After securing that trademark, Kale assembled a band of other musicians, called them the Guess Who, and toured extensively under that name, until very recently. The resulting confusion over the name brought bitter feelings and an eventual lawsuit.
In Sept. 2024, Billboard reported that "The members of 1960s rock band the Guess Who have settled a bitter trademark lawsuit in which two bandmates referred to a recent iteration of the group as nothing more than a 'cover band.' In a statement, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings said they had reached a deal to resolve their lawsuit against fellow original members Jim Kale and Garry Peterson — ending a legal battle among the four original members of the band best known for hits like 'American Woman' and 'These Eyes.'
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"Under the deal, Bachman and Cummings said they will acquire full control over the trademark to the band’s name. Monetary terms and other aspects of the agreement were not disclosed in the announcement, and no legal papers announcing the settlement have yet been filed in court."
“We are pleased to have reached a resolution that honours our shared history and allows us to move forward with a new sense of purpose and camaraderie,” Bachman said, with Cummings adding that they were “committed to preserving and celebrating the legacy for our fans.”
The case of the Guess Who is now often cited as an example of the importance of properly trademarking a band name. In a guest column in Billboard Canada, Canadian entertainment lawyer Chad Finkelstein observed that "For musicians, stage names are extremely important – and also surprisingly fragile. In the case of the Guess Who, souring personal and creative relationships have had legal ramifications because of a lack of protections.
"For musicians, a stage name or band name is not just a label, but a symbol of the artist’s persona, style and the emotional connection they create with their audience. It’s often the cornerstone of their brand identity."
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Tunes written by the pair in the late '60s and 1970, including “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “Undun,” “American Woman,” “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature,” “No Time” and many more, propelled the band to international success, and these songs have become classic rock staples. Their phenomenal run of hits included "American Woman," the first Billboard No. 1 hit by a Canadian group.
Randy Bachman left the Guess Who in 1970, going on to form platinum-selling hard rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, while Cummings remained with the band until it broke up in 1975, then launching a highly successful solo career.
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