The final days of KISS were supposed to be a grand farewell, a celebration of decades of rock and roll history. But for one legendary former member, something was off… and he wasn’t afraid to call it out.
December 2023 marked the official retirement of KISS as a touring band. It was the end of an era—the last time fans would see the iconic face paint, the towering boots, and the fire-breathing spectacle that defined rock and roll excess for generations.
But there was one glaring omission… Ace Frehley, the original Spaceman, was nowhere to be found. Instead, it was Tommy Thayer who took the stage, continuing his 20-year stint as KISS’ lead guitarist. But now, Frehley has come forward with a revelation—Thayer wasn’t just filling in for him. According to Ace, he was getting his solos… wrong.
“In a recent interview with Guitar Player, Frehley opened up about his thoughts on Thayer’s playing, revealing something that surprised even him.”
The guitarist revealed: “It is true that Tommy had to show me some of those old parts when I came back for the reunion. You’ve got to realize that there’s songs that Paul and Gene wanted me to perform that I hadn’t played in 10 or 15 years.”
He continued, “Tommy’s like an encyclopedia, and he knows how to play the right notes. But Tommy was funny. When I played certain solos, I played them at a different position on the neck than he thought I did. He would go, ‘Wow, that’s surprising!”
Frehley then shared his response to Thayer, “I’d go, ‘Well, Tommy, I’m just not a schooled musician, so I play things where I feel like playing them!’ And it surprised him because he thought I’d played them at a different position on the neck.”
Ace added: “As it turned out, he wasn’t playing them correctly, either. I thought it was funny, and so did he.”
Thayer joined KISS in 1994 to help with their book and other projects. He managed tours and worked on their video releases. In 2002, he filled in for Frehley and wore the Spaceman makeup for the first time. He became the official lead guitarist in 2003.
During an appearance on the latest episode of “Talk Is Jericho”, KISS guitarist Paul Stanley was asked why there weren’t any guest appearances by former KISS members at the band’s final shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 2023.
