GWAR Respond To Claims Of Lawsuit From Late Frontman's Father

The members of long-standing, borderline mythical collective GWAR have responded to reports that emerged yesterday claiming that the father of late frontman Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, had filed a lawsuit against the band for (among other things) stealing Brockie's ashes, saying they are yet to even see the papers.

In a statement issued on social media early this morning (AEST), Brockie's bandmates said that, because they had not seen the papers — the existence of which was apparently broken by Style Weekly — they were unable to comment on "the substance" of William Brockie's lawsuit, "but we can say that the claims in the Style Weekly article are false".

"We did not steal Dave Brockie’s ashes, or anything else that belonged to him," the band wrote in their post. "In fact, all of the items mentioned in the article, including Dave’s ashes, have been available to his attorneys for weeks.

"At all times, and under very trying circumstances, we have acted in good faith to honor the wishes of our dear friend. Dave left no will or instructions for final arrangements, and so we have done the best we could to honor what we believe Dave Brockie would have wanted."

Among Style Weekly's original claims regarding the content of the lawsuit were charges that the remaining members stole Dave Brockie's "artwork, bass guitars and cremated remains, and refuse to return them to his family".

"In the lawsuit, Brockie says that in the months following his son's death, band members pilfered guitars, artwork, a gold record, tour ephemera and other personal effects from his son's home, and padlocked them in an office at the band's Slave Pit Inc headquarters," the outlet wrote, going on to say that drummer Brad Roberts (aka Jizmak Da Gusha) had been singled out as the driving force behind the alleged thefts.

However, the band specifically addressed — and denied — each of the claims apparently contained within the lawsuit in their post this morning, with particular focus being placed upon Brockie Sr's claims that "he was made to wait across the street from Slave Pit Inc. until he was given a small fraction of his son's ashes".

"The accusation concerning Dave’s ashes is particularly troubling for us," the band wrote this morning. "Following Dave’s passing, the first thing we did was notify his father, who signed over Dave's body so we could have him cremated. We were told by Dave’s father that he did not want to be involved in making Dave’s final arrangements. For this reason, Slave Pit assumed that responsibility, paying for his cremation, arranging two memorial services (one public and one private), and purchasing a plot for Dave in Richmond’s famed Hollywood Cemetery. Dave’s father did not attend either of the services held for his son in Richmond.

"Over 30 years of working and living with Dave, several of us had heard him say that he wished for his ashes to be kept at Slave Pit, so he could 'keep an eye on GWAR' while we worked. In the weeks following his death, we developed a plan for a memorial fund that would raise money to honor Dave’s memory with a statue in Hollywood Cemetery and work to continue his passionate support of the arts. We felt strongly that a portion of his remains should live at the site of his proposed monument in Hollywood Cemetery. When William Brockie later approached us, we released a portion of the ashes at his request, so he could spread them in the location where Dave’s brother and mother’s ashes were dispersed."

Brockie Sr also apparently alleges that the remaining members of GWAR went on to use Brockie Jr's likeness, without his permission, for a series of memorial and charitable purposes, such as the Dave Brockie Fund, designed as a leg-up funding resource for struggling artists, and to preserve the late frontman's legacy and body of work, and that control over such outlets should be handed back to the Brockie estate.

"The Dave Brockie Fund did indeed raise money toward our initial goal of building a monument to Dave in Hollywood Cemetery," GWAR explained. "Unfortunately, its mission has been put on hold because William Brockie’s attorneys claim that the Brockie estate should have control of the Dave Brockie Fund and the money contained therein. If we are ultimately unable to use the funds for the purpose for which they are raised, the funds will be returned to all contributing donors."

It's a (necessarily) long missive, in which the band also offer explicit defense for the charges against Roberts and band manager Jack Flanagan, who was "unjustly accused of signing a bogus release" in Brockie Sr's original lawsuit.

The entire post is available below, but their conclusion makes the message clear:

"Dave Brockie was our friend, peer, co-worker and our family," the members wrote. "We want to preserve the legacy of one of the greatest singers in rock and roll history. There is no 'conspiracy', no bad faith, no theft, no graft, and no ill will. We trust our fans will see through this, and we will be able to get back to work on the one thing we all know Dave Brockie loved: GWAR."

Brockie passed away on March 23 last year, later revealed to be due to acute heroin toxicity. He was farewelled by the band at a Viking funeral held during the annual GWAR-B-Q event — itself a controversial part of Brockie Sr's claims regarding the unauthorised use of Brockie Jr's likeness.