Ace Frehley provides details on how he fired his solo band consisting of Scarlet, Coogan and Wyse

Ace Frehley provides details on how he fired his solo band consisting of Scarlet, Coogan and Wyse

In a rather surprising turn of events, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley recently announced that he had replaced his solo band consisting of bassist Chris Wyse, drummer Scot Coogan and guitarist Richie Scarlet with Gene Simmons‘ solo band members — Philip Shouse on guitar/vocals, Ryan Cook on guitar/vocals, Jeremy Asbrock on guitar/vocals, and Christopher Williams on drums.

In interviews with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation” and with Jim Norton and Sam Roberts on SiriusXM‘s “Jim And Sam”, Frehley provided details on how he fired Wyse, Coogan and Scarlet and what their respective reactions were to the presumably bad news.

Speaking to Trunk, Frehley stated (as reported by Blabbermouth with slight edits): “Chris took it really well. He’s been playing with the [Hollywood] Vampires, he told me he was doing solo shows with Joe Perry, and he’s one of the most sought-after bass players in Los Angeles. So Chris took it really well. Scotty didn’t take it very well. And Richie didn’t take it well, because his wife had just passed away [after battling ALS for many years]…. It was a nightmare, because I kept procrastinating, because I said, ‘How can I call Richie and let him know I’m using another band when his wife is on her deathbed?’ And it was tearing me apart. Finally I just said, ‘I’ve gotta man up.’ So I called him and I told him briefly why and… and he hung up on me. [Laughs] He goes, ‘I can’t believe this shit,’ and he hung up on me. So, two days later, I called him back in the evening, and I said, ‘Rich…’ He apologized for hanging up on me. I’ve known Richie forever. So we healed. He told me he loved me like a brother; I told him the same. I said, ‘Tell me what I can do for you, because I know you were expecting the money from the cruise.’ So I wired some money into his account to help pay for Joann‘s funeral. She was a wonderful lady.”

Trunk Nation interview with Ace Frehley:

TRUNK NATION on VOLUME — Ace Frehley on replacing his band with Gene Simmons’ band by SiriusXM Entertainment

During an appearance on TRUNK NATION w/EDDIE TRUNK to talk about his new album ‘Spaceman’, Ace Frehley spoke about the recent revelation that he has replaced his old band with the same band that his ex-KISS bandmate Gene Simmons uses.

During an interview with Jim and Sam, Frehley stated (as reported by Blabbermouth with slight edits): “It wasn’t a big deal with Chris Wyse, because he’s been working with the Hollywood Vampires, playing bass, and he’s also been doing some solo shows with Joe Perry. He’s one of the most sought-out bass players in Los Angeles, so he was pretty cool about it. My drummer, Scot Coogan, he didn’t take it too well.”

With respect to Coogan, Frehley advised: “I told him I was moving on with Gene‘s cover band and ‘I’m not gonna need you anymore at this juncture.’ He goes, ‘Ace, c’mon! What are you talking about?’ He goes I’m his rock star. ‘You’re losing a rock star,’ he says. Okay — whatever you say. Then he’s hitting me up for money.”

The “hardest” person for Frehley to fire was Scarlet “because his wife [Joann] just passed away. And I knew she didn’t have very much time to live, because she had Lou Gehrig’s Disease [ALS] and there’s no cure,” Frehley said. “So I was procrastinating for a week not to call him. Finally, I got enough guts up to call him, and he was so drained, because he had been at the hospital every day and so on and so forth. After I told him, he just couldn’t grasp it with everything else surrounding his… what he was going through. So he pretty much hung up on me. But I’ve known Richie the longest — 35 years — so I let a day or two go by and I called him back one evening a couple of days ago, and we made up. He apologized for hanging up for me. We discussed and reminisced about old times. He reminded me that I dated his wife before he did. [Laughs]”

Interview by Jim Norton and Sam Roberts with Ace Frehley:

Ace Frehley – ‘Spaceman’, Women, Firing Band Members – Jim Norton & Sam Roberts

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