Music

Klymaxx Members Say Women Songwriters Hall of Fame Is Inducting the Wrong Band

Cooley did not respond to emails and voicemails asking her to comment for this story. This story will be updated if she contacts Billboard following publication.

From 1985 to 1987, Klymaxx scored five Billboard Hot 100 hits, including “I Miss You,” which hit No. 5 on the chart; “Meeting in the Ladies Room”; and “Man Size Love.” By late 1988, Cooper, Malsby and bassist, vocalist and producer Joyce “Fenderella” Irby had left the band, leaving Cooley, Stewart and keyboardist Robbin Grider to record the group’s last album, The Maxx Is Back, which was released in 1990.

In the early 2000s, Cooley fell out with her former bandmates when she unsuccessfully attempted to register the Klymaxx trademark for her sole usage — beef that was touched upon in a 2004 VH1 Bands Reunited episode. The Truth in Music Advertising Act allows original members of a band to tour using the band’s trademark if the individual’s name is also billed — such as Klymaxx featuring Cheryl Cooley — but Cooper alleges Cooley has not abided by that legislation. (Cooper and Irby also perform live using the “Klymaxx featuring” tag.)

More recently, Cooper and Malsby allege that Cooley has managed more than once to change songwriting credits and publishing shares in ASCAP’s database, including those of Sony Music Publishing, which administers the original band’s publishing.