Music

Joy Division/New Order's Peter Hook sues his bandmates for millions

by Dan MacRae

Peter Hook has taken a moment to evaluate how it feels for New Order to treat him like they do and he’s (still) in a sour mood about it. C’mon, it’s not like we were gonna lead into this thing with lyrics from “Crystal.”

Hook’s messy divorce from the Manchester outfit has now reached the big money lawsuit stage. The bassist claims his ex-bandmates have been ripping him off when it comes to royalties. Hook, who left the group in 2007, says the company New Order set up in 2011 to deal with financial matters provides him with only a 1.25% slice of the pie.

Speaking with the BBC, Hook’s lawyer slammed the current pay structure as “clandestine, premeditated and deliberate.”

“It was as though George Harrison and Ringo Starr had got together at George’s house one Friday night and had acted together to divest Paul McCartney of his shareholding in The Beatles, and didn’t tell Yoko about it either,” said Mark Wyeth QC.

If things go Hook’s way, the royalty amount will be bumped up to 12.5% after the upcoming trial.

As you might imagine, New Order’s legal team isn’t fond of this development. The band’s lawyer David Casement QC has branded Hook’s complaints as “completely misconceived.” At this rate, neither party will appear on the other’s Christmas card list.

Beef between Hook and New Order is nothing new. You might remember Hook’s assertion in 2007 that the band has no right to continue without his involvement. The creation of an official Joy Division Twitter account (kids love it!) also rustled Hook’s jimmies. He slammed an autobiography trotted out by Joy Division/New Order bandmate Bernard Sumner as troubling “for the book stores who won’t know whether to file this novel under fantasy or tragedy.” In 2013, Sumner declared that the band was happy without Hook and that rehab for a booze problem transformed him into a worse person.

Send your group therapy offers to the usual address.

[h/t BBC]