‘The fake band is gone’: The Guess Who goes on tour, with a stop in Atlanta

There is a certain irony to the band name The Guess Who because for more than 20 years, two key original members of the Canadian rock band were unable to actually tour under that name.

The Guess Who, known for classic staples like “American Woman,” “These Eyes” and “No Time,” toured for two decades without key members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman until the two men wrested control of the band name from two other former bandmates in a legal dispute that dragged on for years.

“It’s been a nightmare and we finally had enough,” Cumming told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent Zoom call in advance of the band’s “Takin’ It Back” tour stop at Synovus Bank Amphitheater Thursday. (Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster starting at $30 for general admission and $54.50 for reserved seats.)

Cummings and Bachman co-wrote The Guess Who’s biggest hits until Bachman left in 1970 and later started Bachman-Turner Overdrive. They reunited and toured extensively from 1999 to 2003, including a 2001 stop at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

But the band never filed to trademark its name until bassist Jim Kale did it in 1986. He controlled the rights and trademark to The Guess Who name and most years toured without Cummings and Bachman, though original drummer Garry Peterson sometimes took part. After Kale retired in 2016, he leased The Guess Who name to musicians who often toured with no original members. That version of the band stopped at Buckhead Theatre in early 2024. (Occasionally, Bachman and Cummings would tour as Bachman-Cummings.)

“It’s been a nightmare and we finally had enough,” says Burton Cummings (right), referring to getting control of the band's name. Here he performs with Randy Bachman, in Moncton, Canada. (Corey Kelly)

“These clowns would take our records to meet-and-greets and sign our pictures on the albums we made,” Cummings said. “They would use our records to draw people and advertise their fake shows.”

Frustrated, in April 2024 Cummings pulled off a tricky legal maneuver to get the band name back. As noted in a Rolling Stone article, Cummings terminated his performance rights agreements, removing classic hits he owns including “American Woman” and “These Eyes” from public venue licensing catalogs, effectively denying the touring cover act (or anybody for that matter) from playing those songs live.

In 2024, the two sides settled a longstanding lawsuit, enabling Cummings and Bachman to perform together again as The Guess Who.

An attorney representing Kale and Peterson did not respond to an AJC query regarding the lawsuit or Cumming’s allegations.

“You know what?” Cummings said. “That’s over with. The fake band is gone! We’re taking back the name and the history, which has been tarnished and stained. We’re the real guys who wrote and sang those songs.”

Burton Cummings, who had a robust solo career in Canada, is best known stateside as the lead singer of The Guess Who. Here he is performing at Scotiabank Saddledome June 8, 2026 in Calgary. (Corey Kelly)

So far, he said, “the response in the States has been overwhelming. It’s like a big welcome back.”

Playing side by side with Bachman, Cummings said, is pure joy: “It’s much like the old days. When I look over at Randy, I flash back through the last 60 years of my life.”

Said Bachman: “When I look over and he’s singing, I see the 18, 19-year-old kid with this incredible voice. Singing ‘These Eyes,’ he’s like Roy Orbison with three or four octaves. It’s one of the greatest vocals of all time when he did that. It’s amazing he still does it!”

Cummings said people tell him he sounds like he did on the recording and “that’s something every singer yearns to hear. By the end of next year, I’m going to be 80. Thank you, music gods!”

While some rockers his age are a shadow of their former selves, he remains a vibrant force on stage and off. “I didn’t even go to sleep til I was 60,” he joked. “I’ve lived hard. I’ve been busy. But that applause, it heals a lot of aches and pains. It’s the same type of energy you get if you were plugged into a wall. You can feel it!”

Despite the band’s solid track record of hits, the Guess Who have never been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“I don’t care about it,” Cumming said. “I have enough awards. I don’t have any more walls to hang awards on. I’m not losing any sleep.”

Of all the Guess Who songs, “American Woman” is likely the best-known, fueled in part by the 1999 cover by Lenny Kravitz. Later that year, Kravitz performed the song with Prince at Paisley Park for a New Year’s Eve special.

“They each did guitar solos and sang,” Cummings said. “It was a phenomenal moment for me to hear those two artists that I really admire sing lyrics that came out of my head decades earlier.”

That song has also been a staple in video games like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band.”

“The parents sing along with the kids,” Bachman said. “Our audience is now 7 to 8 to death. If we see folks in wheelchairs, we go out of our way to shake their hands and thank them for supporting us and buying our 8-tracks and vinyl and cassettes. A fan is a fan.”