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Artist News Legal
Father of late GWAR frontman accuses band of stealing son’s ashes
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 8 April 2015
The father of late GWAR frontman Dave Brockie has sued the other members of the band and their management company Slave Pit, accusing them of stealing their former bandmate’s ashes and other personal effects, as well as unauthorised use of his image. The band have denied the claims, saying that they have acted as they believe their former frontman would have wished, adding that his father had previously not wanted any part in his late sons final arrangements.
According to NBC News, William Brockie says in a lawsuit filed on Monday: “Immediately after Dave Brockie’s death, the remaining active members of GWAR … set out on a course of action to capitalise on the death of Dave Brockie”.
Brockie Snr claims that, on the day of his son’s passing, the band’s manager Jack Flanagan signed a “bogus release” supposedly outlined Brockie Jnr’s wishes. He also alleges that the band have stolen a bass guitar, artwork and, most alarmingly, his son’s cremated remains.
After complaining about the latter, Brockie’s lawsuit states that “a small fraction of his son’s ashes … were delivered in a used plastic bag with Discover credit card logo on it”.
In response, GWAR posted a lengthy statement to their Facebook page yesterday evening, saying that they “did not steal Dave Brockie’s ashes, or anything else that belonged to him” and adding that they have not yet seen the legal papers filed by William Brockie.
“At all times, and under very trying circumstances, we have acted in good faith to honour the wishes of our dear friend”, they said. “Dave left no will or instructions for final arrangements, and so we have done the best we could to honour what we believe Dave Brockie would have wanted”.
They added: “The accusation concerning Dave’s ashes is particularly troubling for us. 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”.
Staying with the ashes dispute, they continued: “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 … 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”.
And on the question of the “bogus release” signed by Flanagan, they said: “At the request of our attorneys, he signed some paperwork to make his position clear on what he thought Dave would have wanted, which is something that the law of Virginia specifically asks for, given Jack’s relationship with the band and with Dave. There is nothing bogus about this”.
William Brockie is seeking $1 million in damages.
