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Case file s1642 · Music and sport · 1991
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1991
Miles Davis: Miles Davis by Palumbo cropped
Miles Davis. Tom Palumbo from New York City, USA. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
28 September 1991
Place
St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California · United States
Field
jazz · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (New York) · Common law
Historical event
Sale of the Miles Davis catalog to Reservoir Media, 2025
Religion
Miles Davis: Atheist and agnostic (recorded as African-American agnostics, American agnostics on Wikipedia)
Music and sportCut out of the willPostwarNorth AmericaUnited States

Miles Davis's will left nothing to two of his sons, and the eldest wrote a book blaming his aunt and sister

Miles Davis died at 65 of pneumonia, respiratory failure and a stroke. He was survived by his daughter Cheryl and his sons Gregory, Miles IV and Erin. His will gave 40 percent to Erin, 20 percent to Cheryl, 15 percent each to his brother Vernon and sister Dorothy, and 10 percent to his nephew Vince Wilburn Jr.†. It left nothing to Gregory or Miles IV, and nothing to his former wives, including the actress Cicely Tyson†. Gregory learned days after the death that he had been cut out. In his 2006 book Dark Magus he said his aunt Dorothy and his sister conspired against him and that his father signed the will without reading it. The estate said the family "finds no fact or merit" in the book. By 2006 Gregory owned a portion of his father's publishing rights and was reported to have obtained 25 percent of future royalties from the estate while seeking back pay†. Vernon and Dorothy later died. Erin, Cheryl and Wilburn ran the estate through Miles Davis Properties LLC. On 12 September 2025 that company sold a majority of its rights in Davis's publishing catalog and recorded music to Reservoir Media for an undisclosed price. The family kept his name, image and likeness rights.

What the law took from it

A will that names some children and omits others without explanation invites a challenge, and a royalty share won later can still leave the excluded heir outside every decision.

Sources
  1. digital.bentley.umich.eduScholarship
  2. The Seattle TimesPress
  3. clevescene.comPress
  4. www2.ljworld.comPress
  5. thelivemusicreport.zenutech.comPress
  6. laist.comPress
  7. gtlaw.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Miles Davis's will left nothing to two of his sons, and the eldest wrote a book blaming his aunt and sister,” story s1642, https://www.celebrity.estate/miles-davis-1991, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportCut out of the willPostwarNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States