KORN Sued By Original Drummer DAVID SILVERIA

According to TMZ.com, original KORN drummer David Silveria is suing his former bandmates, claiming that his 2006 exit from the group was merely a hiatus and that he was rebuffed when he tried to return to the band. Silveria says he still has ownership interest in KORN, and is asking a judge to force the band to reveal how much money they've made since he left so that he can get his rightful share.

Silveria is said to be particularly upset over the fact that KORN welcomed back guitarist Brian "Head" Welch two years ago but wouldn't do the same for him.

Silveria told Rolling Stone magazine in December that it is "wrong" for his former bandmates to play KORN's self-titled debut album without him on their current tour, saying that he had "just as much of a creative input as any of [the other] guys while writing and making [the] record." KORN plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first album by performing the record in its entirety at select gigs.

Silveria explained, "I feel like it was wrong to go play this record without me, because I was just as much of a creative input as any of these guys while writing and making this record. So I think it was wrong to do it without me, but it's not really weird. They've been playing and touring years without me. I just think they should've asked me to come play the tour."

Silveria was the second member of KORN's original lineup to depart, leaving in late 2006.

Welch exited the group in 2005 and continued working as a solo artist until rejoining KORN in 2013. Silveria retired to Huntington Beach, California and opened a restaurant.

KORN singer Jonathan Davis told The Pulse Of Radio that he believed Silveria had lost his passion for playing music, saying, "He really didn't like playing drums. The first two albums, I think, he really enjoyed playing drums and then after that he just lost his love for playing drums. It happens."

Silveria surfaced in 2013 to answer fan questions on his Facebook page, during which he gave the current version of the group a little bit of a slam while emphasizing how important he was to the group's original sound and even how they came together. Asked if he had heard the KORN single, "Never Never", Silveria replied, "For all the fans asking the answer is no I have not heard a new KORN song. All I can say is I'm sure it's not funky and groovy like the original KORN. I don't even need to hear it to know that."

Silveria added, "I am a funky groove drummer and Ray [Luzier, current KORN drummer) is a heavy metal drummer. That's why KORN will never sound as unique as we used to . . . KORN lost their groove."

Silveria claimed he wasn't "talking crap" about his former group, but then went on to say, "Until they have the real 'funky drummer' it's just not gonna groove the way it could. I've made it clear that I would come back and restore the groove."

In other comments at his Facebook page, Silveria took credit for bringing Davis and Welch into the band, as well as getting them their management, saying, "None of them want to admit it was me . . . There are a lot of things I did for the band that they don't like to admit I did."

The drummer in February 2013 pleaded guilty to a charge of allegedly driving under the influence. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the hit-and-run charge in connection with the March 2012 incident in which the 42-year-old musician — who played with KORN for 13 years — rear-ended another car on his way to breakfast in Huntington Beach, California.

Silveria was sentenced to three years of informal probation, a three-month first offender program, and he was ordeded to attend a M.A.D.D. victim impact panel.

He recently joined a new band called INFINIKA, which has released a debut album called "Echoes And Traces".