Nearly two years after the curtain fell on Kiss for the final time, Ace Frehley has finally shared details as to why he was a notable absentee from the band’s End of the Road tour.
The final iteration of the rock heavyweights featured mainstays Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. That meant there was no room for original guitarist Frehley, who recorded 11 albums with the group, the last being 1998’s jeopardy-ridden Psycho Circus.
His omission — and that of original drummer Peter Criss — was glaring to fans, especially when he is considered a key part of the band’s classic line-up. Speaking to Guitar World, Frehley has been keen to set the record straight on how it went down.
“About nine months before Kiss was going to play [their final show at] Madison Square Garden, both Paul and Gene were saying, ‘We’re going to bring everybody out on stage,’” he details.
It felt natural — pleasantly predictable, even – that the stars of the band’s long, often turbulent history, all got a look in at their blockbuster bow out. But that’s not the way it panned out.
“A few months before the concert, they both changed their tune and said, ‘Ace and Peter aren’t going to do it,’” Frehley continues. “In fact, Paul went on to say, ‘If Ace and Peter got on stage with us, the band could be called Piss.’ So, I kind of got into an argument with him.”
Frehley’s last show with the band came in 2001, at the end of Kiss’ first farewell tour. Since then, he’s focused on his solo career, releasing seven albums. Despite the animosity felt towards his former bandmates, however, he isn’t ruling out donning the Spaceman make-up again in the future.
“I’m the kind of guy that never says never,” he says, diplomatically. “I don’t hate Paul or Gene. We’re rock and roll brothers, and Peter, too. So, anything can happen.”
That being said, there are caveats. A reunion is far from impending, because he’s “having too much fun doing my own thing.”
“And maybe,” he adds, “I’ll eventually get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist.”
Kiss were inducted into the Hall in 2014. If Frehley manages what currently seems a slightly unlikely feat, he’d become the 29th musician to double dip in its annals. He’d follow the likes of Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, Cream, and as a solo artist), Ronnie Wood (the Rolling Stones, Faces), and all four Beatles.
The latest to follow in those sizable footsteps was Ozzy Osbourne, who, following Back Sabbath's 2006 induction, was honoured for his solo career last November. That ceremony saw Wolfgang Van Halen seemingly put the EVH-Randy Rhoads rivalry to bed by joining members of Metallica, Tool, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play “Crazy Train”.
There were hopes among the Kiss fandom that Frehley would feature at November’s Kiss Army event in Las Vegas, where Simmons, Stanley, and Bruce Kulick are set to reprise the band's unmasked era. This time, Frehley takes full responsibility for his absence.
“They asked me and I declined,” he states, leaving no room for misinterpretation. “There’s no way I’m gonna be involved with that. Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at [the 19,500 capacity] Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.”
Back in February, Frehley sat down with Guitar Player to offer his thoughts on his Kiss replacements, and he didn't hold back. He’s also said the band are lying about his two departures from the group, and has offered his side of the story.
