Guitarist Adrian Vandenberg Gets Sued For The Rights To His Own Name
In the strange times that we live in as people are trying take every opportunity to hit someone with a bizarre law suit in order to get ahead, the strangest one surprisingly has occurred in the world of Rock n Roll!
Former Vandenberg, Manic Eden, Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg gets sued to the rights to his name by former Vandenberg band members singer Bert Heerink, bassist Dick Kemper and drummer Jos Zoomer. He shared the story on his facebook page fans & friends were shocked!
“Almost a year ago I got summoned by a lawyer representing the three guys who I invited to play in my band at the time in 1981, trying to claim my own name ‘Vandenberg’ and actually trying to prohibit me from using my own name ‘Vandenberg’ through a lawsuit .. now how bizarre is that?!?
These individuals, singer Bert Heerink, bassist Dick Kemper (appropriate first name) and drummer Jos Zoomer, each of them factually not having achieved anything worth mentioning in about 27 years, now opportunistically trying to lift piggyback on the name/ reputation that I was fortunate to build through years of working my ass off with Vandenberg, Manic Eden and Whitesnake. A sad situation indeed, since I always thought these guys were friends.
The Bert Heerink attempt, is even more pathetic than the others, since I had to fire him from my band a year before I disbanded it, for reasons that I won’t disclose right now. So this individual wasn’t even in my band when I disbanded it. Nevertheless this person attempts to claim my personal name 26 years later (apparently Heerink doesn’t have anything to say at all about his own life, because his ‘wife’ is in charge of this whole thing, Spinal Tap-style)
Naturally the judge wiped their claims away. You’d expect these leeches would crawl back embarrassed under the damp, mossy stones that they’d been hiding under for 27 years, but noooo; right now they’re trying once again to hijack my name through a different route (a ‘trademark office’).
It is basically like when you invite a couple of people for a ride on the backseat of your new car, and then after the ride these passengers claim that your car is now theirs because they were given a ride in it. Some people have no shame.. Never a dull moment!” Concluded Adrian Vandenberg
Adrian Vandenberg was originally the lead guitarist for the Dutch band Teaser, a band that released a self-titled album in 1978. He then started his own band, simply named Vandenberg, he wrote all the music and lyrics for, made the paintings for the album covers, designed the logo for who released three albums in the 1980s, Vandenberg, Heading for a Storm and Alibi. They are arguably best known for the ballad “Burning Heart”, a song that features complementing guitar layers and harmonies, and “Friday Night”, from the Heading for a Storm album. They toured extensively, including a support slot to the Michael Schenker Group in the UK in late 1982. A “Best of” compilation has recently been released. Adrian Vandenberg eventually disbanded his own band in 1986 to join Whitesnake with David Coverdale, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, Vivian Campbell n later Steve Vai which they have reached success globally with platinum albums, awards and Top 40 hits.
“Adrian Vandenberg is a genuine person and gifted musician, has signature guitars to his name, painter, one of the most prominent individuals from Netherlands, who has worked very hard to get where he is for years. The attempts to steal the rights to his name by other band members who have never reached any notable success in their careers are cheap and pathetic. How could a band be called Vandenberg without Adrian Vandenberg is anyone’s guess?”
Source: www.myspace.com/adrianvandenberg
