The Band - The Band Star Garth Hudson Launches Legal Battle To Halt Auction

Late last month (Feb13), belongings from the rock legend's archive were sold to the public at a garage sale staged by Kingston, New York landlord Mike Piazza, who claimed Hudson owed him more than $50,000 (Gbp31,250) in storage space fees.

He was planning to sell more stuff at an auction, but a New York judge has granted Hudson and his wife Maud a temporary restraining order, which prevents the sale of items at a planned 6 April (13) auction.

Hudson is accusing his landlord of attempted extortion and demanding the return of items from his personal archive, which includes musical instruments, memorabilia and sheet music.

Maud tells the Kingston Times newspaper that the landlord has made "false claims" and "stolen" her husband's personal belongings "through illegal activity".

She adds, "We called the lawyer when we realised what happened. It was wrong they were sold. Many things are from archives and are very important to his life's work. We would really like to put out an appeal."

The new suit claims the couple had a lease agreement to rent storage space from Piazza to store household items and the musician's music archive and memorabilia. The Hudsons informed the landlord that the payments wouldn't be made in regular installments because the rocker received two lump sum royalty payments from record companies. Piazza reportedly agreed to the terms.

They claim Piazza raised the rent and then doubled that amount without making changes to the original document. He also moved the possessions to different storage areas without notifying them or asking for permission. Hudson and his wife have urged anyone who has already bought something from the archive to get in touch with them as they plan to buy back most of the possessions sold.