James Kottak (born December 26, 1962) is an American drummer. Kottak is best known for his work with the German

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

band Scorpions, which he joined in 1996. At the time of his firing from the band in 2016, he was their all-time longest-serving drummer, surpassing Herman Rarebell, who spent 18 years in the band.

Career

Prior to joining Scorpions, Kottak was a drummer for the Bob Brickley Band, Nut House, Mister Charlie,

Buster Brown Buster Brown is a comic-strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with his dog Tige, became well known to the American public in th ...

, Montrose, Kingdom Come,

Wild Horses Wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'' that includes domesticated and undomesticated subspecies. * Przewalski's wild horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), a rare and endangered subspecies of wild ...

, the

McAuley Schenker Group McAuley Schenker Group were an American rock band based in Los Angeles featuring core members Robin McAuley (vocals) and Michael Schenker (guitar), a successor (and eventual predecessor) to Schenker's earlier band Michael Schenker Group. McAu ...

, Warrant, and Ashba. He gained early mainstream exposure during his time with Kingdom Come, appearing on the band's first two studio albums, the first of which included their biggest hit, "Get it On." This track prominently features Kottak's drumming, culminating in a drum solo just before the song's conclusion. In February 1997, he helped Dio on their US tour by replacing

Vinny Appice Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice. Career Appic ...

for four or five shows when Vinny Appice had pneumonia. He also gave drum lessons at Far-Out Music in Jeffersonville, Indiana, once having as students former

Bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the '' bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, bri ...

drummer, Jerry McBroom. He also played with guitarist

Michael Lee Firkins Michael Lee Firkins (born May 19, 1967) is an American electric guitar player, whose sound fuses bluegrass, country, blues, and jazz elements, into his distorted rock sound. He is noted amongst guitarists for his prolific use of hybrid picking a ...

. Kottak also plays in his own band

Kottak Kottak, formerly known as KrunK, is a punk rock/pop punk group formed in Los Angeles in 1996 by James Kottak a.k.a. ''Jimmy Ratchitt'', ex-drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions and his ex-wife Athena Lee. Current members are: * James Kott ...

, formerly known as KrunK. On April 28, 2016, it was announced that Kottak would be replaced by Mikkey Dee on 12 North American headlining dates, including a run of shows at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas dubbed "Scorpions blacked out in Las Vegas". On September 12, 2016, it was announced that Kottak was no longer in the band. Kottak endorses

Ddrum ddrum is an American based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers. Ddrum was originally a brand of Clavia, makers of the Nord ...

and Yamaha drums, Aquarian drumheads,

Zildjian :''Zildjian leads here. For people with the surname, see Zildjian (disambiguation)'' The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded ...

Cymbals, Ahead drumsticks and accessories and Danmar percussion.

Personal life

Kottak was married to

Athena Lee Athena Lee (born Athena L. Bass; December 8, 1964) is an American drummer and actress. She is the younger sister of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. Career Lee was born in Los Angeles County, California, the daughter of David Lee Thomas Bass ...

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...

's younger sister, who is also a drummer and was a fellow member of Kottak. The couple had three children between them, including their son, Matthew, and Athena's two children from her first marriage, Tobi and Miles. Miles is currently the drummer for indie rock band Bad Suns. On April 29, 2014, the ''National Post'' reported via the Associated Press that Kottak was arrested in Dubai and sentenced to one month in jail for offensive behavior, insulting Islam, and public drunkenness. On September 12, 2016, he was fired from Scorpions for his alcoholism, and would later work on his recovery.

Political views

Since his dismissal from The Scorpions, Kottak has come out publicly about his politically conservative views. In June 2019, Kottak said, "I wrote a new song.... 'Get out of My Kountry' ie: stay out of my space! We don't need anymore outsiders. We can't even fix the homeless problems?! When homeless problem is solved we take care everyone else..." On October 15, 2019, Kottak went on Twitter and stated, "You know I am sick of every other commercial having inter racial couples...this is not reality. It is Hollywood shoving it down our throat. I don't have one friend or friends who live in this category...just saying". On November 26, 2019, Kottak went on to say that "OK so the percentage of black Americans in the US is about 13% so why are they represented 50 to 60% on all commercials? Just saying call me out if you have a reasonable argument?". A short time later, he added: "Maybe none of you have any balls to speak the truth?"

In popular culture

Kottak is one of the contributors to the book '' Sex Tips from Rock Stars'' by Paul Miles published by

Omnibus Press Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 250 titles currently in print. History Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complem ...

in July 2010.

Discography

with Buster Brown

*'' Sign of Victory'' (1985) (Kottak did not play on their '' Loud and Clear'' album of 1984. He replaced Bob Koestle in 1985.)

with Montrose

*''

Mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ar ...

'' (1987)

with Kingdom Come

*'' Kingdom Come'' (1988) *'' In Your Face'' (1989)

with Michael Lee Firkins

*''

'' (1990)

with Wild Horses

*''

Bareback Bareback riding is a form of equestrianism, horseback riding without a saddle. It requires skill, balance, and coordination, as the rider does not have any equipment to compensate for errors of balance or skill. Proponents of bareback riding argu ...

'' (1991) *'' Dead Ahead'' (2003)

with McAuley Schenker Group

*'' MSG'' (1991)

with Warrant

*''

Ultraphobic ''Ultraphobic'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Warrant. Released on March 7, 1995, on CMC International, after the apparent breakup of the band, the record was regarded as the band's "comeback" album. It is the first album to ...

'' (1995)

with Ashba

*''Addiction to the Friction'' (1996)

with Scorpions

*'' Eye II Eye'' (1999) *''

Moment of Glory ''Moment of Glory'' is an album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was recorded in collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and released in 2000. The album features re-arranged songs from the Scorpions repertoire, as well as cla ...

'' (2000) *'' Acoustica'' (2001) *'' Unbreakable'' (2004) *'' Humanity - Hour 1'' (2007) *''

Sting in the Tail ''Sting in the Tail'' is the seventeenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released on 19 March 2010 in Europe (14 March in Greece) and on 23 March in North America. At the time it was intended to be a farewell album, relea ...

'' (2010) *''Live 2011: Get Your Sting & Blackout'' (2011) *''

Comeblack ''Comeblack'' is a compilation of songs recorded by German hard rock band Scorpions; and is intended as a comeback album, following their farewell tour. Released after the successful 2010's '' Sting in the Tail'', half of the album features re-r ...

'' (2011) *''MTV Unplugged – Live in Athens'' (2013) *'' Return to Forever'' (2015)

with Black Sheep

* ''Sacrifice'' (1998, 1999) *

Willie Basse Wilber Cornelius Rice, Jr. ( ), known by the stage name Willie Basse, was an American hard rock vocalist, bassist, music producer, engineer and songwriter. He was the frontman for Black Sheep, a 1980s metal band that featured a number of notewort ...

– "Break Away"

Kottak

*''Greatist Hits (1998)'' *''Therupy'' (2006) *''Rock & Roll Forever'' (2010) * ''Attack'' (2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kottak, James 1962 births 20th-century American drummers 21st-century American drummers American heavy metal drummers American male drummers American rock drummers Kingdom Come (band) members Kentucky Republicans Living people McAuley Schenker Group members Montrose (band) members Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Scorpions (band) members Rock musicians from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky The Cult members Warrant (American band) members Wild Horses (American rock band) members