Yes Members Face Lawsuit For Stealing Song Rights

Yes members Steve Howe and Jon Davison are facing a lawsuit that claims they “conspired” to steal a song from a longtime collaborator. The lawsuit, filed in California and reported by Rolling Stone, alleges that the song “Dare to Know” from Yes’s 2021 album The Quest is a rip-off of “Reunion,” a track recorded in 2012 by prog artist Riz Story.

The Backstory Behind the Lawsuit

Riz Story, whose real name is Rudolph Zahler, says he worked closely with Jon Davison in the ‘90s when they were in a band together, and continued collaborating after Davison joined Yes in 2012. Story helped with Davison’s audition for the band and worked on material for their albums. He claims his song “Reunion,” which appeared in the 2012 movie A Winter Rose, was known to Davison, who even complimented him.

However, Story alleges that Davison and Howe took “Reunion” without his permission, reworked it into “Dare to Know,” and gave it a new title and lyrics. The lawsuit accuses the two of omitting Story’s name from the credits and deliberately hiding the song’s origins.

A ‘High Similarity’ Between the Songs

An expert witness reportedly found that “Dare to Know” and “Reunion” share a remarkable 96% pitch similarity, with both songs having striking melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic resemblances. According to the expert, this level of similarity is “extremely high” and unlikely to be coincidental.

A spokesman for Yes has strongly denied the claims, calling the lawsuit “vindictive, defamatory, delusional garbage” and promising a vigorous defense. On the other hand, a representative for Story expressed disappointment, saying it was “with a heavy heart” that Story was forced to take legal action against two people he once admired. The spokesman emphasized Story’s trust in the legal system to resolve the issue.