Last weekend, news that former Kyuss members Josh Homme (currently of Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal and Them Crooked Vultures) and Scott Reeder had brought a lawsuit against original Kyuss members John Garcia and Brant Bjork, who have been touring as Kyuss Lives!

The suit alleges trademark infringement and consumer fraud, with the notion that fans might think that it’s the original lineup when in fact it's not. Today (March 15), Garcia and Bjork issued their statement in response to this legal tussle.

The full text of the Kyuss Lives! statement is as follows:

"We are both shocked and saddened that our friend and one time bandmate has chosen to file a lawsuit against us, especially after having positive discussions since our reformation," said John Garcia and Brant Bjork. "We look forward to resolving this private matter behind closed doors and moving forward with work on our new album and connecting with our amazing, loyal fans."

Homme and Reeder stated that they had attempted to avoid taking this issue to the courts, revealing that the parties had met as recently as January to try and sort this out. "With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, Kyuss Lives! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name Kyuss…This is desperately what we were trying to avoid. It’s a sad day for us and for John but most of all for the fans. What a needless mess."

More From Loudwire