Randy Bachman, left, and Burton Cummings of the Guess Who perform during the halftime show at the 88th Grey Cup game in Calgary in November, 2000.Aaron Harris/The Canadian Press
After reclaiming the rights to the Guess Who band name in 2024 after a protracted legal battle, chief songwriters Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman will tour Canada in 2026. The dozen dates announced Monday mark their first jaunt as the Guess Who in 23 years.
The Winnipeg-born rock band released its debut album, It’s Time, in 1966, the same year CBC Television went colour. Guitarist Randy Bachman split the No Sugar Tonight hitmakers in 1970; the group broke up five years later.
Because the name the Guess Who was not officially trademarked, original bassist Jim Kale was able to establish rights to the brand in the 1980s. For decades, he and original drummer Garry Peterson toured and recorded as a U.S.-based Guess Who with anonymous musicians.
Cummings, Bachman reach settlement over the Guess Who name with former bandmates
In recent years, Bachman and singer-keyboardist Cummings contended that Kale’s version of the Guess Who was misleading to fans because Kale had stopped performed publicly in 2016, while Peterson only appeared sporadically.
In 2024, Bachman and Cummings settled a lawsuit with Kale and Peterson and acquired the trademark for the band’s name, clearing the path for the tour promoted by Live Nation Canada that begins at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., on May 26.
Randy Bachman (left to right), Garry Peterson, Burton Cummings and Jim Kale at the Juno Awards in Toronto in November, 1987.TIM CLARK/The Canadian Press
“A tour was always in mind,” Cummings told The Globe and Mail. “When Randy and I are together, it’s two hours of hit records.”
Last month, Bachman and Cummings were among a list of prominent artists including Taylor Swift and Sarah McLachlan nominated for 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame class. Among their Guess Who international hits are American Woman, These Eyes, No Time and Share the Land.
Cummings was in Toronto on Saturday for a concert in benefit of the Canadian music education charity MusiCounts at the famed El Mocambo club. Backstage after show, the 77-year-old rocker sipped a Mexican pilsner and spoke about the upcoming tour.
“It’s going to be monstrous. The momentum already is almost scary.”
A previously announced concert at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Jan. 31, is already sold out. The early summer tour of arenas includes stops in Halifax, Laval, Que., Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ont., Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton. Ticket pre-sales begin Tuesday, with general on-sales starting Friday.
The band, composed of Cummings’s solo group plus Bachman, is also booked for Ottawa Bluesfest (July 19) and the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver (Aug. 23). Future dates in the United States are expected.
Randy Bachman, left, and Burton Cummings during a Canada’s Walk of Fame fundraising event in Toronto in July, 2019.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
The original Guess Who reunited in 2000 for a multiyear tour that included performances at that year’s Grey Cup and, in 2003, for the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto benefit concert headlined by the Rolling Stones. Since then, Cummings and Bachman have hit the road as solo artists and, as recently as 2022, together as Bachman Cummings. Bachman, 82, just completed a tour with his reformed band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
The nightly setlists for next year’s concerts will consist of Guess Who classics, BTO staples and solo-Cummings hits such as My Own Way to Rock, Stand Tall and Break It to Them Gently. As well, early Guess Who songs Proper Stranger and A Wednesday in Your Garden will make appearances. “These are great album cuts from the Randy Bachman days,” Cummings said.
The no-longer active band Cummings calls the “fake Guess Who” toured for years as a pseudo cover band in the U.S., creating confusion that may still linger despite the settled trademark dispute. Cummings says any uncertainty over the band’s lineup will be addressed.
“The advertising people will take care of that. Everybody will know it’s the Guess Who featuring Bachman and Cummings.”