Yellowcard Drops $15M ‘Lucid Dreams’ Lawsuit Against Juice WRLD
Rock band Yellowcard has dismissed their multi-million dollar lawsuit against the late rapper Juice WRLD.
The band, which broke up in 2017, sued the artist for copyright infringement in October 2019 over his breakout hit, “Lucid Dreams. Released in May 2018 and peaking at to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, “Lucid Dreams” came off his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance.
In their lawsuit, Yellowcard claimed that Juice WRLD copied certain elements of their 2006 “Holly Wood Died” without permission, and sought $15 million in damages.
The case has been in limbo since Juice WRLD’s death. Born Jarad Higgins, the Chicago native passed away on December 8 just days after turning 21 after suffering a seizure shortly after his private plane landed at Chicago’s Midway Airport. His death was later determined to have been caused by an accidental drug overdose following an autopsy.
In response, Yellowcard briefly paused the lawsuit, although they still intended to pursue the case despite what their lawyer Richard Busch called awkward “optics.” In February, Juice WRLD’s mother, Carmela Wallace, was appointed the executor over her son’s estate, and the lawsuit resumed. But it seems the band has had a change of heart.
According to court documents obtained by the New York Times on Monday (July 27), Busch signed off on a form to withdraw the lawsuit.
“My clients are very sympathetic not only of Juice WRLD’s death but also needed time to decide whether they really wanted to pursue the case against his grieving mother as the personal representative of his estate,” a statement from Busch read.
The Times noted the dismissal was made without prejudice, which means it is possible to file the lawsuit again.
Earlier this month, Juice WRLD’s first posthumous album, Legends Never Die, was released and immediately overtook the charts. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, the biggest posthumus debut in over 20 years.
