Yes Singer Responds To “Blatant Lies” Of Former Bandmate’s Lawsuit

Last week, Riz Story filed a lawsuit against Yes, claiming the prog-rock legends stole portions of his song “Reunion” from his 2014 film A Winter Rose for their own tune “Dare To Know.” On Monday (Nov. 18), lead vocalist Jon Davison addressed the accusations with a statement, calling them “blatant lies.”

Davison confirms he and Riz Story — real name Rudolph Zahler — were in a band with late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins back in the ’90s, but they were not founding members of a band called Anyone like Zahler claimed; they were in a band called Blash Meth, and he left before it became Anyone years later. “Any suggestion that I might have heard this generic melody when we were younger, let alone thought it was worthy of Yes, is utterly absurd,” he wrote.

As for the relationship between “Dare To Know” and “Reunion,” Davison explained:

For the record I did not write “Dare To Know.” As anyone who studies the Yes albums will know meticulous care is taken on every song to correctly credit the songwriters. On The Quest, I have credits on 6 of 11 songs, hardly the “nearly every other song” that is incorrectly stated in their claim to try and support their fiction.

Nor did I ever hear the “musical composition” supposedly called “Reunion,” or see the indie film A Winter Rose. Riz sent me a 2min trailer for A Winter Rose, and out of politeness I congratulated him, but had no interest in seeing the film. Frankly I was turned off by Riz’s ‘filmmaking’ after his first release was borderline pornographic in nature. I’m not even sure if A Winter Rose had a theatrical release after the premiere, which I most certainly did not attend.

He sets forth the idea that Zahler’s lawsuit comes from a place of feeling rejected after “hoping to work with Yes, and, I’m sorry to say, failing.” He also argued that the melody isn’t original, writing:

As I’m sure many have now heard, this generic melody is common and predictable with origins in traditional music dating as far back as the Renaissance era. Numerous examples have been made, it is almost identical to the opening guitar riff in Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” or to traditional descending melodies such as Tommaso Giordani’s “Caro Mio Ben” from 1782. The list is endless. Put simply, this is a basic sequence that can be found in hundreds of compositions, and contrary to their analysis by Dr Lustig, we believe confirms how the similarity has occurred by chance alone.

According to Rolling Stone, Zahler’s lawyer responded to the statement, saying his client “looks forward” to his day in court. “It is unfortunate that Yes continues to respond to Riz Story’s compelling copyright infringement lawsuit with ad hominem attacks. The latest is a long diatribe by Jon Davison that is equal parts easily disprovable fiction and self-incriminating admissions,” he wrote.