Former Live Band Members Issue Singer Ed Kowalczyk With Cease And Desist Letter

It’s been years of conflict, but the drama continues for ‘90s rockers Live.

Formed in 1984 by vocalist and guitarist Ed Kowalczyk, guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, and drummer Chad Gracey, Live are known for hits such as Lightning Crashes and Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition).

Last Thursday (19 February), Stereogum reported that two of the band’s former members – Chad Taylor and Chad Gracey – claimed that they’d removed Kowalczyk from the board of the company that controls Live’s intellectual property, Action Front Unlimited, Inc. Additionally, they said they halted the frontman’s rights to use the band name.

Taylor shared an image of a cease-and-desist letter he sent to Kowalczyk, which has since been removed from Instagram. In the caption, he wrote that he wasn’t actually fired from the band, claiming the singer “never had the authority” to fire him. Taylor’s statement read:

To the LIVE fans —

I was not “fired.”
Ed never had the authority to remove me.

I remain a founding shareholder and director of Action Front Unlimited, Inc. — the company that owns the LIVE name and trademarks.

As of Feb 16, 2026, his rights to use the LIVE brand were revoked by AFU.

I won’t fight this in public. The courts will handle it.

Thank you for the support while we work toward properly restoring LIVE.

— Chad

Following the share of Taylor’s cease-and-desist letter, Chad Gracey reportedly shared his former bandmate’s post and wrote, “YOUR LICENSE IS REVOKED”.

This latest development comes after several tumultuous years for Live. In 2009, Kowalczyk left the band and was replaced by singer Chris Shinn. He returned to the band in 2016.

In 2022, Kowalczyk fired Taylor after taking majority control of Live. The remaining founding members, Gracey and Dahlheimer, were dismissed shortly after, leaving Kowalczyk as the sole founding member still in the band.

Kowalczyk has been performing and recording as Live with other musicians since October 2022.

Mitchell Shuster, an attorney claiming to represent Ed Kowalczyk, said to Stereogum following Taylor’s cease-and-desist letter, “The assertions contained in the recently circulated ‘cease and desist’ letter from certain former members of LIVE are without merit.

“Ed Kowalczyk has served as the band’s frontman since its founding and remains in that role. The claims made do not alter that reality. We intend to address this matter through the appropriate legal channels and are confident it will be resolved in Ed's favor [sic] in court.”

Live last toured Australia in April 2024, playing a run of shows and co-headlining the inaugural Lookout Festival alongside Incubus.