Spats, temper tantrums and scathing retorts within the Kiss camp are no rarity, and Ace Frehley has been at the center of his fair share of them.

Now the guitarist, who hasn’t donned his Spaceman outfit since the turn of the millennium, wants to set the record straight regarding his two departures from the band.

The facts are straightforward.

Frehley successfully auditioned for the band in 1973, despite his antics nearly leading to Gene Simmons punching his lights out. He stuck around for nine studio albums, and helped turn the band into one of the most commercially successful acts around before making his unceremonious departure in 1982.

After reuniting for the band’s 1995 MTV Unplugged performance, the original lineup — Frehley, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss — regrouped the following year. Ace bowed out for a second time after performing at the closing ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, Utah.

But why did Ace leave both times? According to Stanley and Simmons, he was fired. But as Ace tells Guitarist, that’s not what happened.

“A lot of the misconceptions were created by Paul and Gene,” he says. “They still say in interviews that they fired me, but I was never fired from Kiss. I hate when I hear that. And they say that both times I was fired. I quit both times.”

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Gene Simmons:
“By 1981, I was spending more and more time in Hollywood. I was approached by Marcy Carsey, a producer of shows like The Cosby Show and Roseanne, to try out for a show to be called Grotus. I would be the star. I shot a short pilot and everyone seemed to like it enough to get me in front of the ABC staff. There were ten people around a table and we chatted for five minutes. Then they offered me my own TV series. I was stunned.”
I went outside with my business guy, who explained the deal to me. I would get $60,000 an episode. He told me if I left KISS, where I was making substantially more, I would in essence be paying for the privilege of being on television.
– “Kiss and Makeup” by Gene Simmons

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2928426340592276

The band cancels all April and May performances

Gene Simmons and His Band regret to announce the cancellation of their upcoming performances scheduled for April and May 2025.

The affected shows include April 3rd at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA; April 8th at Muckleshoot Casino Events Center in Auburn, WA; April 10th at The Great Saltair in Magna, UT; April 26th at The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach, FL; and May 24th at House of Blues in Houston.

Ticketmaster sent the following message to ticket holders on Thursday (Mar 20th):

“Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event. You don’t need to do a thing. We’ll issue a refund to the original method of payment used at time of purchase, as soon as funds are received from the Event Organizer. It should appear on your account within 14-21 days.”

Automatic refunds will be issued.

It’s unclear why the shows were canceled.

Simmons began touring with his solo band after Kiss called it quits at the end of 2023.

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Ace Frehley‘s relationship with his former Kiss bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley has been tumultuous over the years, to say the least. While tensions have mostly simmered down nowadays – Frehley referred to Simmons and Stanley as “just like brothers” last year – their feuds have been legendary as far as rock music goes.

Frehley was a founding member of Kiss in 1973, played in the band until his departure in 1982, and then rejoined in 1996, before leaving again in 2002. While it’s often thrown around that he was fired from the band, Frehley maintains that he left of his own volition.

“A lot of the misconceptions were created by Paul and Gene,” Frehley says in an interview in the new issue of Guitarist magazine. “They still say in interviews that they fired me, but I was never fired from Kiss. I hate when I hear that. And they say that both times I was fired; I quit both times [in 1982 and 2002].”

He even asserts that the first time he quit the band, Paul Stanley made efforts to get him to stay. “They didn’t want me to leave; the first time I quit, Paul showed up on my doorstep, took me out to lunch, and was trying to change my mind, but I had already made up my mind,” Frehley says.

Despite the success he enjoyed as a member of Kiss, Ace Frehley reckons he’s better off as a solo artist. “The success of my [1978] solo album [Ace Frehley] made me realize that I was more creative away from Paul, Gene, and Peter [Criss] than I was around them,” he says.

“And so, time marches on, but yeah, they’ve said shit, like, I’m late, and I’m lazy, and yeah, maybe not as much as they’ve said it, but it’s true. As far as when I’m working, and I’ve got an idea, and I’m excited about it – I have tunnel vision.”

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KISS Destroyer Resin Sculpture by Illusive Concepts – Limited Edition 3-D Image.  Sculpture looks to be in mint condition.  Original box has some minor shelf wear.

Order now at KISSArmyWarehouse.com!

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the landmark live album KISS ALIVE! with this jolting in concert retrospective. Created by Andrew Sgambati. View it at andrewsgambati.com

Please keep in mind since this was recorded last week a lot has already changed. The vinyl is sold out on KOL, you can order a CD from Japan and the shirts without Bruce and Eric have been pulled down.

JPL Productions has shared 4K fan-filmed video of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley’s entire Match 13 show at Sony Hall in New York City. Check it out below.

Setlist:

“Shock Me
“Deuce
“Cherry Medicine
“Love Gun
“Rocket Ride
“Parasite
“Detroit Rock City
“Rip It Out
“She
“New York Groove
“Cold Gin
– guitar solo – (Karl Cochran tribute)
“Shout It Out Loud”
“Rock And Roll All Nite” (with Richie “The Emperor” Scarlett)

Fittingly enough, for a band who are more of a marketing campaign than a band, the most heavy metal thing about Kiss is their look. Everything from the face paint to the guitars to the pyrotechnics that have singed the eyebrows of generations of concert-goers screams metallic excess. This is a band whose awe-inspiring heaviness is something to be feared and respected. Whose music is just as fearsome as their blood-spitting demon of a bassist.

Then you play Destroyer and find out that Kiss are basically just Cheap Trick after bingeing a few seasons of Dragula. It’s true, Simmons and Stanley’s shock-rock troupe are, at their core, a really sassy power-pop band, especially in their 1970s heyday. As time went on their tried to darken their sound and add the menace of their look to their music, but there’s a reason why the last 20 years of their touring career was essentially a megabudget reboot of their 70s concerts with nothing from, y’know, Revenge.

None of this is a criticism, by the way. If anything, it makes sense that a band with the business sense of Kiss would make their image cool and scary enough to appeal to any teenage boy worth their salt, but the music accessible enough for them to actually want to listen to it. With that in mind, it also makes sense that one of their extensive back catalogue of 1970s hits wasn’t written with them in mind, but ex-Faces frontman, Rangers enthusiast and man intensely curious as to whether you find him sexually thrilling, Rod Stewart.

This is mid-to-late 1970s ‘Rod The Mod’, too. We’re not talking Nod’s As Good As A Wink…, man of the people, proto-Oasis Rod; we’re talking soft-rock Godhead, gunning-for-a-knighthood Rod. Worst of all, this is ‘Sailing’ Rod. Y’know who was a massive fan of this kind of Rod Stewart? ‘The Star Child’ himself, Paul Stanley.

After the success of the live album Alive made Kiss a hard rock sensation, a number of the songs that Stanley was writing had to be shelved for not being “Kiss enough”. One of these was a number Stanley was working on called ‘Hard Luck Woman’, which Stanley envisioned being a hit for, you guessed it, Rod Stewart. He even wrote the song to be sung with a Stewart-esque raspy vocal. However, what constituted a Kiss song changed irrevocably with their own bid for MOR stardom, Peter Criss’ 1976 megahit ‘Beth’.

Where once Kiss songs were all about hypercharged guitar riffs and flying around arena stages with sparks shooting out of your nipples, now, Kiss could be classy. This expanded the kind of songs that could go on a Kiss album, and when bandmate Gene Simmons and producer Eddie Kramer heard the song, they insisted that Stanley keep it for the band’s new album, 1976’s Destroyer. The finishing touch came from Criss himself.

In singing lead on ‘Beth’, the drummer showed his own singing voice, which had the same sandpaper quality as Stewart’s. So, when he heard Stanley’s demo for ‘Hard Luck Woman’, he kindly requested that he himself have a go instead. Or, as written in the band’s 2005 biography Kiss: Behind The Mask, he said “Hey fuck-o, how about me? Fuck Rod Stewart, I’ll sing the shit out of it.”

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When Kiss lumbered on to the scene in 1974 with their self-titled debut album, no one could’ve predicted how much a part of popular culture their bat-winged, fire-breathing, blood-drooling totem, Gene Simmons, would become. When Simmons – born Chaim Witz in Israel, the son of Hungarian Jews – relocated to New York at a young age he immediately embraced the American dream. As Kiss’s career exploded – quite literally – the bassist/vocalist proved he was no shock-rock novelty act, masterminding an extensive merchandising range and helping transform the band into a global business.

Simmons’s larger-than-life personality helped him inveigle his way into rarefied social circles, and he enjoyed unlikely love affairs with a couple of the world’s top female singers. In 2010, Gene looked back on several of the (non-sexual) encounters he’d had with the great and good of rock’n’roll, Hollywood and even the White House.

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A Los Angeles news station got a dose of star power when Gene Simmons crashed a local weather report. On Thursday, the legendary Kiss vocalist and bassist made an unexpected appearance on Fox 11 Los Angeles, joining meteorologist Adam Kruger to help deliver the week’s forecast.

“You look much better in real life than you do on TV,” Simmons quipped to Krueger. When Krueger assured Simmons he looks good in both, Simmons (decked out in sunglasses and leather pants) joked: “I know that.”

The “God of Thunder” singer reported on citywide showers, but he and Krueger assured viewers that sunny skies were ahead, even sneaking in a few Kiss lyrics. “This weekend it’s looking pretty good if people want to rock and roll all night,” Krueger said, a nod to the 1975 track “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

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On April 25, 2025, Raven Drum Foundation will bring together an all-star lineup at New York City’s famed Cutting Room to support first responders and veterans for the second year in a row.

Founded in 2001 by Rick Allen, drummer of DEF LEPPARD, and his wife, healing arts educator and musician Lauren Monroe, Raven Drum Foundation brings musicians, health educators, and the philanthropic community together to serve the healing of first responders and veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress. With the core philosophy that when music, intention, and healing wisdom all meet on the paths of neurobiology and psychology, we harmonize our inner mental and emotional states to effect positive change, the foundation provides mind, body, and drumming integrated workshops incorporating evidence-based techniques such as guided visualization, breathwork, and heart-brain coherence education to support wellness, and regulation of the human nervous system.

Together with first responder organizations Friends Of Firefighters and First Responder Resiliency Inc., artists will raise funds for proactive resiliency education, counseling, and holistic care programs addressing post-traumatic stress.

In addition to performances by an all-star band and a silent auction of rock memorabilia, the Legacy Award will be presented to humanitarian and artist Peter Criss — the original Catman and co-founder of KISS. Joining Criss, Allen and Monroe onstage will be THE JOE BOUCHARD BAND with Albert Bouchard (former members of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT) featuring Mickey Curry (HALL & OATES, BRYAN ADAMS),MOUNTAIN‘s Corky Laing, R&B legend Bernard Purdie, “Saturday Night Live”‘s Christine Olhman, Shawn Pelton, Carlton Jumel Smith, Ricky Byrd (JOAN JETT),Devon Maria (DEBBIE GIBSON),Kasim Sulton (JOAN JETT, TODD RUNDGREN) and surprise guests, as well as emcees Maria Milito of Q104.3 and musical director Billy Amendola.

Tickets and VIP packages are on sale now. Please visit RavenDrumFoundation.org for more information.

Criss, who turned 79 in December, first left KISS in 1980. Since then he’s worked with other bands and released solo albums. He teamed up with KISS again for a reunion tour in the 1990s and most recently in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer.

Criss has claimed that his contract with KISS wasn’t renewed in March 2004. That charge has been disputed by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.

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KISS manager Doc McGhee, guitarist Tommy Thayer (AKA Spaceman), and audio archivist Dan Johnson explain how it comes together.

“You can’t just throw stuff out, you have to make it special, so people say, ‘I love this!’ If you can do that, you’re on to a winner.” KISS manager Doc McGhee knows a thing or two about what the band’s devoted fanbase, The KISS Army, want from their heroes. McGhee became KISS’ manager back in 1995, a pivotal time for the band. With McGhee’s guidance, KISS began to embrace their past – their “remasking” and reunion tour paved the way for a massively successful few decades of sell-out tours and huge-selling, back-to-basics albums.

Of course, KISS fans have long been spoilt for choice with all manner of band-branded memorabilia, from Pez dispensers to coffins. McGhee estimates that over 3,000 items of official KISS merchandise have been released worldwide over the years. The manager sees it as an integral part of KISS’ appeal, “I’ve had some of the biggest artists of all time come into my office. They’ll sit there and see a KISS snow globe, pick it up and say, ‘Can I have that?’ There’s just something about KISS and collectibles.”

The Off The Soundboard series

In recent years though, KISS’ archival music has been a major focus. McGhee and the band have started plundering the KISS archive for the Off The Soundboard series of live albums. The releases have delighted fans with their no-frills, back-to-basics approach. Tommy Thayer (AKA Spaceman, official KISS member since 2002) agrees, “We’re famous for packaging, but in this case, you want to present something in a form where it’s more of a bootleg – it’s not a big production in terms of the package. I think people like that the Off The Soundboard series is raw and rough, it definitely brings the focus down on the music and the recording itself.”

How Thayer became a member of KISS is the stuff of Hollywood fantasy. A lifelong fan of the group, the Portland, Oregon-born Thayer formed the glam metal band Black’n’Blue in 1981 and enjoyed local success before signing to Geffen in 1983. By 1985, Black’n’Blue were supporting KISS and Gene Simmons even produced two of their albums. Thayer began collaborating with Simmons in the late 80s and two of the duo’s songs made it onto the 1989 KISS album, Hot In The Shade.

In the early 90s, Thayer was recruited by KISS to work on their coffee table book, Kisstory, which led to him conducting a total inventory of the band’s archives, as Thayer remembers. “I thought, ‘This is a dream job.’ Obviously, they had a lot of material – photos, videotapes, and recordings in all kinds of different formats. When I came on the scene, I went to Paul Stanley’s house in Beverly Hills, and there was a room stacked with these old, dilapidated cardboard boxes that were falling apart. Inside the boxes were binders, filled mainly with 35mm slides. They were just really poorly stored; things hadn’t been cared for properly.

“My job was to start going through these binders and not only select photos for the book but identify what was there and start a crude inventory. I knew KISS inside-out and recognized a lot of the photo shoots, so was able to start making notes and organising them. We put together a digital filing system on Filemaker Pro and would identify each individual item, take a photo of it, and add a description with all the specs.

“Today we have a complete, well-ordered inventory of the KISS archive with almost 10,000 individual items in the database. That includes film, video, and photo sessions. I estimate that we have over 50,000 individual images, starting from the early 70s, up to the present day. This is all stored in a temperature-controlled, professional storage facility in the Los Angeles area. I’d say KISS probably has one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated databases and inventory systems put together for an artist.”

Cleaning up the tapes

Deciding which shows should form part of the Off The Soundboard series is just the beginning of the process. Once plucked from the archive, those tapes are transferred and professionally restored. Dan Johnson of Audio Archiving Services Inc, California, is the man entrusted with this task. Usually, the process is relatively simple. But, as Johnson puts it, “sometimes the tapes don’t cooperate – you never know until you put the tape up on the machine.”

Luckily, tapes that have been damaged over time can be restored by baking them. Literally. “Over time, as the tape ages, it starts sucking in moisture from the environment. And that moisture causes the tape to become sticky. If you try to play the tape on one of these machines, it’ll scrape the oxide which holds the music off the tape. And the tape is pretty much destroyed at that point. So, we put them in a regular food dehydrator for 12 to 15 hours at about 130-135 degrees, and then it has to cool for roughly the same time, and that sucks the moisture out.”

For most of us, the idea of “baking” an extremely fragile and priceless part of musical history would be incredibly daunting, but for Johnson, it’s become part of a day’s work, “When you first start out, everything you do is under a microscope and you think, ‘This is the master tape to KISS’ Destroyer or Led Zeppelin’s debut album or whatever – I don’t want to be known as the guy that screwed up that tape!’ Over time, it becomes more routine, and with experience, you think, ‘OK, I’ve seen this before, I know how to deal with it.’”

As a long-term KISS fan, the chance to work on the Off The Soundboard series has been a dream come true for Johnson, “I used to play in bands when I was a teenager. And every band I was ever in played KISS covers. So, they’ve always been a part of my life. It’s been surreal to work on the KISS master tapes, that’s crazy to me. Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen.”

Johnson has also been impressed by the approach the group has taken to these live shows. “The Off The Soundboard series is especially great because there’s no fixing of anything, they don’t go back in the studio and add more audience or more kick drum or whatever. It is what it is. That’s been really refreshing because I’ve worked on a lot of live releases where the only thing that wasn’t redone in the studio was a hi-hat or a tambourine. It’s great to actually hear actual live recordings that haven’t been tampered with.”

As well as working on the Off The Soundboard series, Johnson was the man behind the audio restoration of 2012’s Super Deluxe Edition of KISS’ 1976 classic, Destroyer, a 4CD and Blu-Ray box set that included the original album newly remastered, demos from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s personal archives, studio outtakes, alternate versions/mixes and single edits and a May 1976 live show from Paris.

With the audio receiving Dan Johnson’s expert care, the presentation of the Destroyer box set had to be top-notch. The KISS Army were not let down – the set included a 68-page hardcover book, replica KISS Army newsletters, facsimile press photos, bio sheets, an iron-on KISS logo, stickers, posters, trading cards, a reproduced program and more. “It took probably six months to put it all together,” reveals Doc McGhee. But it’s all worth it, in the end. Preserving the band’s legacy and giving the KISS Army plenty to shout about is of paramount importance to the band, as McGhee explains, “You have to embrace the past. We don’t want to sound like Pearl Jam, we don’t want to sound like Billie Eilish – we want to sound like KISS… One of the great strengths of KISS is that we’re very connected to the KISS Army. Those kids are part of the team.”

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Gene Simmons just couldn’t stay away. KISS may have played its last show in Dec. 2023, but that doesn’t mean Simmons is done with music. Instead, the band’s co-founder put together Gene Simmons Band. The group went on tour in 2024 and will continue to do so this spring and summer.

“I tried to stay away from being on stage, but it’s too much fun,” Simmons told Ultimate Classic Rock. “I thought I was gonna take a few years off after the band I was in for 50 years decided to call it quits.”