VETERAN IRISH ROCKER Brush Sheils has called on Jon Bon Jovi to help him end a dispute over a band name being used by two parties.

Shiels says the American band Skid Row – who themselves have been around in various incarnations for twenty years – unfairly took the name of his own band, which previously included Thin Lizzy members Phil Lynott and Gary Moore.

Shiels says his band was well-known throughout the world – and that his tours to the United States had seen them jam with acts like Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers and Iggy and the Stooges.

Now he has resurrected the band to release a new album – but says he has been told he cannot release it in the United States because of the existence of another band with the same name, which was signed to Atlantic Records with Jon Bon Jovi’s assistance.

Though the US heavy metal band claims to have bought the ‘Skid Row’ name from Moore – for a reported $35,000 in 1987, partly funded by Jon himself - Shiels says Moore had denied this turn of events.

According to Sheils, Moore had told Jon Bon Jovi he would need to contact Shiels to secure the use of the name – arguing that “as far as most people are concerned, I am what Skid Row is all about.” Moore died in February of last year.

In a YouTube video, Sheils claims to have written “95 per cent of all the original Skid Row stuff… I have some small part in the legacy of their perpetual music.

Shiels argued that his band should enjoy the same ability to reform and release new material as other acts like Black Sabbath.

“I don’t think for a minute that [Bon Jovi] would be as disrespectful to a fellow professional rock musician, like myself, not to bother contacting me?

“Jon, if you’re out there, from one rock professional to another: give us a call. Brush Shiels, Skid Row, Dublin, the Republic of Ireland.”