Fresh from a tour the Violent Femmes tangled in lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A member of the American cult band the Violent Femmes is suing the band's lead singer for failing to pay a fair share of the band's royalties.

Brian Richie, the band's bassist, filed a lawsuit against lead singer Gordon Gano in the U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday, just two days after the band returned from a tour that included stops in California and South Africa.

"This action is the unfortunate culmination of an on-going, intra-band dispute between Richie and Gano over Gano's misappropriation and misadministration of Richie's interests in the jointly-owned songs and assets of the band," the lawsuit says.

Richie says that Gano should pay him past and future royalties owed and also damages. Gano denies any wrongdoing.

Gano said he last saw Richie two days ago and is "totally surprised" by the lawsuit.

The Violent Femmes formed in the 1980s and developed a cult following with hits like "Blister in the Sun". Gano estimates that they perform 70 times each year, except for a brief hiatus in the mid-1980s.