Jon Davison Comments on ‘Utterly Fictitious’ Yes Lawsuit

Yes member Jon Davison has issued a statement about the recent lawsuit involving the singer and guitarist Steve Howe.

Papers filed in the Central District of California by Riz Story claim that the pair stole his 2012 song “Reunion” and retitled it “Dare to Know” on Yes’ 2021 album The Quest.

Davison wrote on Tuesday, “It’s hard to put in words how it feels to wake up one day to hear that a person who I thought was a friend has brought not only an utterly fictitious but also a defamatory case against me.

“While my initial reaction is to say nothing in the face of these blatant lies and this frivolous lawsuit, I feel I must address the personal slander that has been included within it as I have been so deeply hurt.”

READ MORE: Yes’ Steve Howe on ‘The Quest’ and Recording Without Chris Squire

Noting that his statement is “lengthy … in the best traditions of Yes,” Davison explains that he “did not write ‘Dare to Know.’ … I have never heard ‘Reunion’ before this lawsuit. And, most importantly, I did not steal ‘Reunion,’ a sequence of notes that is so generic it can be found in hundreds of compositions going back over 200 years.”

Davison says he attempted to contact Story, whose real name is Rudolph Zahler, and his lawyer when he heard about the lawsuit. “They refused to respond, and even when our manager asked them to address it, we were met with threatening emails,” he notes.

“And in contradiction to the false, and we believe defamatory, narrative put forward by this lawsuit, it is our belief that Mr. Story is possibly attempting to ‘steal’ a credit on our album, and gain publicity for himself, following 12 years of frustration with his own career.”

What Is Going on With the New Yes Lawsuit?

In his lawsuit, Story said he was in a band with Davison and the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins during the ’90s and that he and Davison have since worked together over the years. When the singer joined Yes in 2012, Story noted he collaborated with the band, including a production role that didn’t pan out.

“Mr. Davison decided to just ‘steal’ Mr. Zahler’s song ‘Reunion’ for the album, rather than getting Mr. Zahler’s permission,” the lawsuit claimed, adding that Davison and Howe “decided to add lyrics to the music, affix the name ‘Dare to Know’ to the song and attribute sole songwriting credit to Mr. Howe.”

“Reunion” has appeared only on the 2012 soundtrack to the movie A Winter Rose.

“We have evidence to confirm that over this period, and since I joined Yes,” Davison counters, “[Story] has approached my manager, my record label and Yes his “favorite band ever” on numerous occasions to ask them to represent him as a client, to release his album or to work with Yes as producer, mixer, remaster – the list goes on.”

You can read Davison’s full statement on Yes’ Facebook page.