What happened between Nelly and St. Lunatics? $50 million lawsuit explored as the artists reunite for a performance at the AMAs

Nelly reunited with his former crew, St. Lunatics, for a performance at the 50th Anniversary of the American Music Awards on October 6, 2024, in Los Angeles. Joined by Chingy and J-Kwon, they performed a medley of songs, including Chingy’s Right Thurr, J-Kwon’s Tipsy, and Nelly’s Air Force One, Ride Wit Me, and Hot In Herre.

For the unversed, childhood friends Nelly, Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, City Spud, and Slo Down formed St. Lunatics in 1993. They rose to fame with their song Gimme What U Got. The group dropped its only album Free City in 2001, which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard 200 and is certified platinum by the RIAA. However, soon the members focused on their solo careers, eventually splitting in 2010.

Sunday's performance comes as a surprise, as last month, four former bandmates sued Cornell for $50 million over lack of credit and unpaid royalties on his diamond-certified solo album, Country Grammar, which came out a year before Free City.

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Slo Down was not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Nelly

A day before Sunday's AMA performance, Nelly joked about the lawsuit in an Instagram post, writing:

"STL INVADES @amas …!!! An anyone who has a problem with that “Sue” me…!!! Tomorrow @cbstv 8pm eastern .."

Per an article by Billboard published last month, Ali Jones (Ali), Torhi Harper (Murphy Lee), Robert Kyjuan (Kyjuan), and Cornell's brother Lavell Webb (City Spud) filed the copyright infringement lawsuit on September 18 in a New York Federal Court. Corey Edwards (Slo Down) was not named as a plaintiff.

Per the publication, citing the complaint, Nelly "manipulated" them into thinking they would receive financial compensation for their work on Country Grammar. The publication, quoting legal documents, wrote:

"Every time plaintiffs confronted defendant Haynes, (he) would assure them as ‘friends’ he would never prevent them from receiving the financial success they were entitled to."

The plaintiffs reportedly believed that their friend would not "steal credit for writing the original compositions" and did not pursue any legal action.

While members of St. Lunatics are listed as co-writers on various tracks from Country Grammar, the suit alleges that they contributed artistically to more songs than listed, including Steal the Show, Thicky Thick Girl, and Batter Up. According to Billboard, Cornell "privately and publicly acknowledged that plaintiffs were the lyric writers" and ensured they would receive "writing and publishing credits."

However, in an October 7, 2024, report by TMZ, citing a letter sent by Nelly's attorney, N. Scott Rosenblum, Ali Jones spearheaded the lawsuit. The letter added that the other three Lunatics did not give their authorization to be included in the suit and threatened legal action if not removed. However, this remains unconfirmed,

This is not the first time Ali has claimed Cornell failed to credit their contributions. In an August 2023 interview with VladTV, he claimed Nelly would go months without paying him what he was owed. He remarked:

"I’ll say like it could be $90,000 or $70,000. When that conversation happens I’ll get a check. It’ll be $13,000. Now you’ll be f**ked up now because what is this $13,000 for? You owe me $91,000."

At the time, he vowed to never share a stage or collaborate again with his childhood friend, stating, "A tiger ain’t never gon’ change his stripes."

Nelly or other St. Lunatics members including Ali have not publicly reacted to the development.