Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has once again said that he is up for a reunion of the original band, but only if the price is right.
During an appearance earlier today (Monday, April 27 — his 69th birthday) on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation”, Frehley stated about his former bandmates: “I texted Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] last week and just wished them well, and Peter [Criss]. And I got a text from Doc [McGhee, KISS manager]. Everybody’s okay — thank God. Knock on wood. Eric Singer‘s been sending me some silly texts [Laughs] ‘Cause me and Eric always got along really well on the road.
“Everything’s cool,” he continued. “What’s gonna happen is gonna happen. But everything is delayed at this juncture, so who knows? … I’m doing my own thing. Unless they come forward and the price is right, you’re not gonna see me anywhere close by.”
In the year and a half after KISS announced its “End Of The Road” farewell tour, fans wondered openly if original members Frehley and Criss would be involved in the trek, especially considering the apparent recent goodwill between Stanley and Simmons and Frehley. Ace‘s latest album “Spaceman” — a title suggested by Simmons himself — features two songs the pair wrote together, and the duo completed a joint summer 2018 tour of Australia, after which Frehley fired his solo backing band and hired Simmons‘s.
Two years ago, Frehley told VintageRock.com that “the only way” he would “seriously consider” taking part in “End Of The Road” is “if I took back my make-up and costume and my character — which I designed.” He added that current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer “is not a bad guitar player, but he basically just mimics everything I wrote, and tries to imitate my persona. He’s been doing it for 15 years,” he said. “But the reality is I’m the original guy. And nobody can really copy the way I play guitar.”
Asked if he would still consider participating in the tour if Criss was not involved, Ace said: “I think it would be great if Peter was involved. Obviously, at this point in his life, he wouldn’t be able to do a two-hour show. But I can see if we worked out a situation where Peter came out at the end and did three or four songs — sang ‘Beth’, did ‘Black Diamond’ and a couple of others, I think that would be fun.”
KISS‘s current lineup consists of original members Simmons and Stanley, alongside later band additions, Thayer (since 2002) and Singer (on and off since 1991).
Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Criss and Frehley, KISS staged its first “farewell” tour in 2000, the last to feature the group’s original lineup.
“Trunk Nation” airs daily on SiriusXM‘s Volume channel 106.