The Unlikely Spot Where The Black Crowes’ Chris & Rich Robinson Spoke For 1st Time In Nearly A Decade

Out today from The Black Crowes is Happiness Bastards, the band’s first album of new material in 15 years. Frontman Chris Robinson and brother guitarist Rich Robinson have done several interviews about the record and in one the pair revealed the initial meeting they had after they went eight years without talking was held at an unexpected location.

The Black Crowes split numerous times from 2000 through 2015. It was in that latter year that the most severe breakup took place. In January 2015, Rich Robinson issued a statement announcing The Black Crowes disbanded. Rich accused Chris of asking him to give up his equal share of the band. The guitarist also said his brother wanted drummer Steve Gorman to “relinquish 100% of his share, reducing him to a salaried employee.”

The huge blowout came during an eight-year period in which Chris and Rich Robinson weren’t speaking to each other as per a Billboard feature about Happiness Bastards. “A band is a family dynamic and on top of that we have an [actual] family dynamic… the two heads of this band are family and everyone has to deal with that, no matter how toxic,” Rich Robinson told Billboard. “That creates its own dynamic in the band and it all became incredibly toxic and we split up for a long time and in those years of doing what we do it allowed Chris and I to really get outside of this thing.”

Rich and Chris spoke with Billboard’s Gil Kaufman separately as per the former’s preference and each brother decamps to separate dressing rooms while on the road. “In the Victorian age, we would be considered eccentrics,” Chris explained of the pair’s rocky relationship. “I’m not sure what you would call that today, but we decided on [this reunion] through an intermediary — someone in the middle who could handle the situation with kid gloves.”

Billboard reports the pair didn’t exchange a single word for eight years missing birthdays, medical issues, the birth of children and other life-changing experiences — a far cry from the decades spent on the road and in the studio together. “The things that I missed and made me feel low was, ‘Oh Richard has some medical operation,’ and the human part of being a brother thinking how that must have been scary — and I wasn’t there for you,” Chris Robinson noted and called it “very weird” the duo hadn’t met each other’s children.

Chris and Rich Robinson finally spoke after running into each other at an airport Hilton in Cincinnati. Following the chance encounter, they decided to reunite for a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. Rich said they wanted a fresh beginning and to not let “some external force come back in and f–k around with us… start from scratch, bring in new people and put our relationship first.”

In 2019 the brothers performed together for the first time during auditions for new band members. The pandemic led the tour to be moved from 2020 to 2021 and they’ve hit the road frequently in the years that followed. Last year they headed to Nashville to record new music with Happiness Bastards arriving today to show the fruits of their labor. Head to Billboard to read more on the album.

The Black Crowes will embark on an extensive world tour in support of Happiness Bastards on April 2 in Nashville. Scroll below for a complete list of tour dates and ticketing links.