Scot Coogan, drummer for late KISS icon Ace Frehley, recently opened up about the circumstances surrounding his departure from Frehley’s band. He addressed the topic in a conversation on Artists On Record With Stefan Adika.
The discussion centered on a tense night at The Forum. Frustration with Frehley and management boiled over during a live show, and it ultimately led to Coogan’s decision to quit despite being offered nearly double his pay to stay.
“I was at the I don’t know if you if you knew I’m sure you knew about it at the Forum there was the Van Halen um friends and family show uh with the Cool and the Gang opening up,” Coogan said. “And it was the first night and I’m in the crowd and I’m pissed off at this point with Ace, okay, and the management. I’m calling back and forth.”
Coogan went on to describe the moment tensions reached a breaking point.
“Ace not Ace isn’t answering his phone for like two weeks and he finally answered the phone,” he continued. “I’m in the Forum in between Cool and the Gang and Van Halen. I’d had a couple beers, whatever. It doesn’t matter. I was mad and I said, ‘Ace, f*ck you. I quit.’ And I hung up and the money was in my account the next day and the management asked me to come back and I said no.”
Coogan then reflected on the aftermath of his decision and the financial offer that followed.
“And that band and then now the life coaching comes in. I quit. I got… they gave me almost double,” he said. “So Ace eventually asked me to come back but I didn’t. I said no.”
Coogan’s account sheds light on the behind-the-scenes tensions within Frehley’s band.
His fallout with Frehley wasn’t a one-off flash of temper from someone new to the rock world. Coogan built his career playing behind a string of well-known names before and after his stint with the KISS guitarist. That experience gave him a frame of reference for how a touring operation should treat its players.
Coogan first made his name in the alternative rock scene with Ednaswap before joining Brides of Destruction, the hard rock supergroup formed by Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and L.A. Guns’ Tracii Guns. He later returned to Frehley’s band in the mid-2010s to support the “Space Invader” album, which debuted at number nine on the Billboard chart, alongside bassist Chris Wyse of The Cult.
Frehley’s death adds weight to Coogan’s recollections. The founding KISS guitarist died on October 16, 2025, at age 74 in Morristown, New Jersey, following complications from a fall he suffered in his home studio on September 25 of that year. The injury forced the cancellation of his remaining tour dates and ultimately led to his family’s decision to remove him from life support.
The Forum show at the center of Coogan’s story was itself a notable event: a Van Halen friends and family concert with Kool and the Gang opening. It placed Frehley’s band on a bill alongside two of rock’s biggest names. That backdrop underscores just how public and high-pressure the moment was when Coogan finally reached his breaking point on the phone with Frehley.
