Just days ahead of their headlining Canadian tour, the band Live have been hit by a cease and desist from former members of the band stating frontman Ed Kowalczyk does not have ownership of the name "Live."
Both guitarist Chad Taylor and drummer Chad Gracey shared images of the letter sent to Kowalczyk, stating that Action Front Unlimited, which the two founded along with bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, is the "exclusive owner" of trademarks and intellectual property associated with the band.
Taylor, Gracey and Dahlheimer founded Live in 1984 under the name First Aid, and brought in Kowalczyk later that year as the singer. All four members have been engaged in legal disputes since 2008, when Kowalczyk left the band.
Kowalczyk was later sued by Action Front Unlimited in 2012, when he began touring under the name "Ed Kowalczyk of Live." The band did manage to reunite between 2016 and 2022 before Kowalczyk kicked the trio out and began using Live for a new band he assembled.
As the band's Wikipedia page points out, from 2016 onward there have been a number of lawsuits filed between and against former members of the band, as well as their former business partner Bill Hynes. It's really something!
The cease and desist, however, arrives just as Kowalczyk is about to tour across Canada under the name +LIVE+, a sneaky way of spelling the name. But it didn't fool Taylor and Gracey.
In an Instagram post, Taylor shared the letter, writing, "I was not 'fired.' Ed never had the authority to remove me. I remain a founding shareholder and director of Action Front Unlimited, Inc. — the company that owns the LIVE name and trademarks. As of Feb 16, 2026, his rights to use the LIVE brand were revoked by AFU. I won’t fight this in public. The courts will handle it. Thank you for the support while we work toward properly restoring LIVE."
As of today (February 20), Ticketmaster still has tickets for sale to see "+LIVE+" on its Like A Rollin' Thunder Tour, which also features Canadian rockers Big Wreck and Econoline Crush.
Like A Rollin' Thunder Tour dates:
2/23 Abbotsford, British Columbia @ Abbotsford Centre
2/24 Kelowna, British Columbia @ Prospera Place
2/26 Tsuut'ina, Alberta @ Grey Eagle Event Centre
2/27 Edmonton, Alberta @ Rogers Place
3/1 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Saktel Centre
3/2 Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Canada Life Centre
3/5 Hamilton, Ontario @ TD Coliseum
3/6 Ottawa, Ontario @ Canadian Tire Centre
3/7 London, Ontario @ Canada Life Place
3/9 Oshawa, Ontario @ Tribute Communities Centre
3/10 Laval, Quebec @ Place Bell
3/11 Quebec City, Quebec @ Centre Videotron
3/13 Moncton, New Brunswick @ Avenir Centre
3/14 Halifax, Nova Scotia @ Scotiabank Centre