Chris Daughtry Sued By Former Bandmates

Chris Daughtry is being sued by three of his former bandmates over royalties, the Greensboro News and Record reports. The lawsuit accuses Daughtry of “constructive fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, unfair trade practices and other deceptive and wrongful conduct” in his dealings with the musicians.

Bassist Ryan Andrews, guitarist Mark Perry and drummer Scott Crawford filed the lawsuit in Guilford County Superior Court in North Carolina, claiming that the singer defrauded them out of money earned for four songs they say they co-wrote with the former American Idol contestant when they played together as a quartet called Absent Element.

Absent Element’s only album, Uprooted, features two songs, “Conviction” and “Breakdown,” which were combined as “Breakdown” on the first Daughtry album, though only Chris Daughtry is credited as a songwriter for that track.

“I am very hurt by these false accusations,” Chris Daughtry wrote in a statement on Daughtry’s official website. “The songs listed in this lawsuit were written solely by me and no one else and at this time, I have no further comment.”