Biography
Sixty years since the band’s inception and one intense legal battle later, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman of The Guess Who have finally won back the rights to their name and are kicking off an exciting new chapter: one that will further cement their legacy.
The story of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman begins in the early 60s, when the duo were in competing local bands in Winnipeg and would soon go on to join forces and front one of the biggest bands of their generation.
Formed in 1965, the Guess Who—who have been dubbed “the Canadian Beatles”—released eleven studio albums, all of which charted in both Canada and the United States, including 1970’s American Woman, which went to Number One in Canada and Number 9 in the US. They’ve placed fourteen singles in the US Top 40 chart and more than thirty in Canada—rock & roll classics like "American Woman," "These Eyes," "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature," and "No Time.” Legendary music journalist Lester Bangs once proclaimed in a review that “The Guess Who is God.”
“Our songs,” says Cummings, “are tentpoles in people's lives.” He credits the wide range of music they were exposed to in Winnipeg, and the ways they were able to guide each other, for adding power and scope to their songs. Bachman emphasizes the focus and discipline they shared from a young age. “We practiced an hour a day and then got together every Saturday morning to share great records,” he continues. “We were inspired by Lennon-McCartney, Brian Wilson, Chuck Berry, all that stuff that was changing our lives and changing music. That’s why ‘These Eyes’ is like a Burt Bacharach song, and ‘Undun’ is kind of a bossa nova, and then you get a great country-rock song like ‘No Time.’ We achieved everything as songwriters.”
Bachman departed from the band in 1970. Upon Cummings’ exit in 1975, The Guess Who would disband. Bachman went on to find success as co-founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive with smashes like “Takin’ Care of Business,” “Let It Ride,” “Roll on Down the Highway,” and the anthem “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.” Cummings continued his winning streak with a gold record for his solo debut single, “Stand Tall,” followed by more than a dozen hits and albums including 1978’s Dream of a Child, the first quadruple-platinum-seller by a Canadian artist.
Bachman and Cummings continued to perform onstage with each other over the years for special events, including reunions of The Guess Who, the last of which was in the early 2000s.
But concurrently, there was a different story developing.
In 1978, a former member, who had been kicked out of the band in 1972, trademarked The Guess Who name without Bachman and Cummings’ knowledge. In recent years, there were nights when a band performing as The Guess Who included none of the original members.
Bachman and Cummings started hearing from confused and angry fans through social media. “People would send us messages saying, ‘We drove 200 miles to see you…and you weren't even there!,’“ says Bachman.
“It was basically a cover band using our songs to promote their shows,” says Cummings. “They actually had meet-and-greets and signed our records—the fake guys signing records that they didn't even make.”
In 2023, Burton and Randy filed a false advertising claim against the band using The Guess Who name. Things escalated to the point that Cummings pulled the performance license for his songs altogether, which meant venues were not licensed to allow the songs to be performed in their buildings. This brought the so-called Guess Who to the negotiating table, and Burton and Randy triumphed, regaining control of the legendary name.
As Bachman-Cummings reunite as The Guess Who, Cummings won’t guess what his reaction on stage will be. “It's hard to say what it’s gonna feel like,” he says. “I know what I hope, which is that people will be as excited as we are.”
One thing for sure is that the impact of the band’s catalog has never waned, from Lenny Kravitz’s colossal 1999 cover of “American Woman” to an endless series of placements in films, TV shows, commercials, and even videogames.
As The Guess Who enters their next chapter, Cummings refuses to look back on the group’s legacy, concentrating instead on what’s in front of them. “I've lived 100 lifetimes compared to most people already, so whatever is coming is coming,” he says. “I'm just thrilled when people tell me, ‘Hey, Burton, you still sound like the guy on the records.’ That's something that every singer wants to hear.”
“I'm very grateful that Burton and I are still in good health, and that we can get out there and do this,” says Bachman. “ It’s just amazing—every night, I’m on stage doing a song that I wrote when I was in my 20’s, and everybody's screaming and singing along.”
Burton Cummings recently posted a photograph on social media of him and Randy Bachman at the top of the Empire State Building when they came to New York City in 1968 to make their first full Guess Who album together, Wheatfield Soul. “We were young and full of dreams,” he says, “and a lot of those dreams came true. And when Randy and I get together now, that feeling is still there for us.”
