SUGARHILL GANG WIN LAWSUIT

Feb 1, 2002 12:00 PM

A New York court has awarded $3 million in damages to rap legends Sugarhill Gang in their lawsuit against Snapple and Turner Broadcasting. In 1991, the Gang filed suit for unlawful use after one of their biggest hits, “Rappers Delight,” appeared in a television commercial for the 1998 Goodwill Games.

The rappers told Sonicnet.com they were shocked when they found out the commercial had aired, as they had agreed the performance in question would only be broadcast on closed-circuit monitors at Studio 54. “A month after we did the show, I get calls congratulating me on my new commercial,” says band member Joey Robinson Jr. “I went, ‘What are you talking about?’ We never consented to it, we never got paid for it, and Snapple never wanted to settle with us.”

Later in 2002, fans can expect a Sugar Hill album — the band's first in 21 years — of new material, which will include a cover of Def Leppard's “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”

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