At the beginning of 2020, L.A. Guns vocalist Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns filed a lawsuit in California against their former drummer and bassist, Steve Riley and Kelly Nickels, who have also been performing and releasing music under the name L.A. Guns, citing unfair competition, unauthorized use of trademarked material, and false advertising.

Now, in April 2021, the two sides have come to terms over who owns the rights to the band name L.A. Guns, and issued the following statement:

"Plaintiffs Tracii Guns and Philip Lewis and defendants Stephen Riley, Kelly Nickels, Kurt Frolich, and Scott Griffin have agreed to settle the trademark litigation currently pending in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the parties have agreed to dismiss the pending lawsuit. Mr. Guns and Mr. Lewis will continue to operate under the 'L.A. Guns' trademark, while Mr. Riley and his bandmates will now operate under the new name, 'Riley’s L.A. Guns' and a new logo. Both bands look forward to continuing to record and perform their new music, as well as continuing to include songs from the vintage L.A. Guns catalog for their fans. Both groups’ recordings will continue to appear together on Spotify and other digital music streaming services. --Attorneys Erik J. Foley and G. Warren Bleeker, counsel for Tracii Guns and Philip Lewis; and Attorney S. Martin Keleti, counsel for Stephen Riley, et al."

In the wake of this settlement, Riley’s L.A. Guns unveiled their new logo the following day along with the message below:

"What's up everybody? Here's a quick update on the lawsuit regarding the name of the band. The case has been dismissed as we have agreed to add Steve's last name to it. We are now Riley's L.A. Guns. Everything else stays the same. Like we always said, we never came up with it, we never owned it outright, we just had a legal right to use it. We hope that this will end the confusion some of you had as to what's what, and who's who. In the meantime we are writing for a new record and looking forward to getting out there and playing for you all this summer..."

Steve Riley's version of L.A. Guns - featuring Kelly Nickels on bass, Scotty Griffin on guitar and Kurt Frohlich on lead vocals and guitar - released their new album, Renegades, on November 13, 2020 via Golden Robot Records. As an intro to 2021 and to fire the machine back up, Riley's L.A. Guns released the ballad "You Can’t Walk Away", which has now developed a deep meaning in more ways than one.

Steve Riley: "This is a song I wrote with a friend, Tommy Holland, over 35 years ago in Chicago. I brought it to pre-production for the Renegades album and the band finished it with a new chorus and some other minor changes. We are very proud of it and hope it follows in the footsteps of 'Ballad of Jayne'."

The single is now available via all streaming platforms.

Tracklisting:

"Crawl"
"Why Ask Why"
"Well Oiled Machine"
"Lost Boys"
"You Can't Walk Away"
"Witchcraft"
"All That You Are"
"Would"
"Renegades"
"Don't Wanna Know"

"You Can't Walk Away"

"All That You Are":

"Renegades":

"Well Oiled Machine":

"Crawl":