“We will vigorously defend what we believe is a meritless lawsuit”: Mastodon respond to legal action from Brent Hinds’ estate
Last week, news broke that the estate of late Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds was suing his former bandmates, over the unauthorised use of his likeness on the cover of their latest album, as well as other alleged infractions.
The filing – made at the Fulton County Court in Atlanta, Georgia and reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution – claims Hinds’ likeness was used on the cover for Marrow Deep – released 28 August – without permission, and that the buyout of Hinds’ interests in the band was never finalised prior to his tragic death in August 2025.
The lawsuit alleges that the band “selected and placed a recognisable image of Brent on the album cover of Marrow Deep and disseminated that cover to advertise, market, distribute and sell physical albums, digital downloads and streams, merchandise and related goods or services.”
Now, Hinds’ former Mastodon bandmates – guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders and drummer Brann Dailor – have responded in a brief post on Instagram.
They write: “Sadly, a private business dispute with the estate of our dear departed friend Bren Hinds was made public. We strongly deny allegations of ill intent on our part and intend to vigorously defend what we believe is a meritless lawsuit.
“We don’t intend to speak publicly on this going forward, as we feel this wouldn’t honour Brent’s memory or the legacy of his musical gifts.”
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It was announced that Brent Hinds had left Mastodon in March last year. He was a founding member of the band in 2000.
The split appeared to be mutual at the time, but in the months following, the guitarist made some thorny comments about his former bandmates, calling them a “shit band with horrible humans”.
Despite the seemingly fractured relationship in the months prior to his death, Hinds’ former bandmates have been remembering their time with him lately fondly.
“He was a man scorned. He said some hurtful things, but I know he didn’t mean it,” said drummer Brann Dailor in a recent interview.
“I was always hopeful that he was going to call me at some point and be like: ‘Dude, I’m done being a ding-dong. Can I come back? I have a riff…’ We were 100% sure he would’ve done that.”
Just a year on, the death of Brent Hinds still affects the members of Mastodon profoundly.
“It isn’t easy to talk about Brent, he was our family, someone we all loved wholeheartedly. He was a wild man, our wild man and that came with some challenges,” the band wrote in July.
“Both things are true and we aren’t interested in chasing one truth over the other. Losing him has meant sitting with a type of grief we never expected. No more hugs, no more high fives, no more disagreements, no more making up. That part has been hard, it’s real.”
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