We all thought Nelsonthrax drama was over. Dan was out, Belladonna was in, Anthrax finally released Worship Music and Nelson started working on his new band BlackGates. Whenever Ian or Benante were asked in interviews about Nelson, they had nothing but bad things to say about him though. I guess Dan Nelson took notice of that, because he is now suing the band for $2.65 million.
A former lead singer of the band Anthrax filed suit yesterday over the fallout from his 2009 ouster from the popular “thrash” combo founded in New York City.
Dan Nelson says drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello and guitarist Scott Ian falsely stated in “numerous interviews” that he had “abruptly resigned” after getting sick, forcing a cancelation of a tour.
The $2.65 million suit also alleges that Benante last month told the rock-news site Blabbermouth.net that Nelson “was a bully.”
The Long Island native says his ex-bandmates’ “intentional defamation” has caused him a loss of income and damaged his reputation.
The Manhattan federal court filing further charges that Nelson co-wrote the tunes on the band’s latest album, “Worship Music,” but hasn’t gotten his fair share of the profits.
Read more: New York Post
As usually, we don’t know all details of the story but, with this suit, there is a good chance we will get to know the details sometime in the future.
I can only say the following. Scott Ian and Charlie Benante did talk a whole lot of shit about Dan Nelson in the press. This is speculation, but maybe the band tried to turn Nelson into the bad guy, the only one responsible for this mess, to save face and get back some of their integrity.
I’ve personally been in steady contact with Dan for quite some time, even though that sadly died down in the past couple of months. I can only say good things about him. He’s been extremely nice to me and shared a lot with me. Be it stories or music. So I can’t share the “Nelson is a monster” view, unless you’re referring to his vocal abilities, with which he shits all over Belladonna.
I can only say this: I can understand why Nelson filed suit, and I hope everyone involved can finally sort this out and put it to rest. This has not just been damaging Nelson’s reputation, but also Anthrax’s.
