He hasn’t been part of the band since 2002, but in the wake of Kiss’ retirement from touring at the end of last year guitarist Paul “Ace” Frehley — aka The Spaceman — finds himself a kind of last man standing for fans who want to hear the group’s music on stage.

“Yeah, right now I’m the only game in town because Kiss is supposedly retired — which I don’t believe is gonna happen,” the New York-born Frehley, 73, says via phone. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they reformed. But be that as it may…I’ve actually added two more Kiss songs to my set. I added ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite,’ and…Everybody was on their feet and having a good time.

“As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter who wrote the song; I played the guitar solos on those records, and that’s good enough for me.”

Frehley was playing in a variety of other New York bands — including one, Molimo, which released an album in 1971 — before answering an ad in the Village Voice that introduced him to Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss the following year. He quit his job as a taxi cab driver and signed on, and as Kiss the quartet adopted face paint, elaborate costumes and theatrics — eventually becoming the self- (but accurately) described “hottest band in the land” after the release of 1975’s “Alive!” album (recorded at Detroit’s Cobo Arena). Frehley co-wrote a number of the group’s biggest hits and sang lead on 1977’s “Shock Me,” and his self-titled debut solo album was the best-selling of the four the band members released simultaneously in 1978.

Frehley left Kiss for the first time in 1982 and returned for the 1996 reunion of the original lineup, leaving again six years later. There’s been plenty of acrimony expressed by all concerned — and acknowledgements of substance abuse issues — but The Spaceman has a more benevolent view of things these days.

“We had some great times together — more good than bad,” acknowledges Frehley, whose concerts are dominated by Kiss songs. “We’re all still friends. I know a lot of people think we hate each other, but that’s not true. We’re just like a family; sometimes brothers and sisters have arguments and so on, but when the s*** hits the fan, we’re there for each other.

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These picks were given away at the KISS Cancer Goodbye Event in Sarasota, FL in 2024. We are going to sell the remaining stock of these picks and donate ALL the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Limited supply get them while you can. Only 100 of these were made total.

Click here to order now at KISSArmyWarehouse.com!

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A judge has ruled that a former hairstylist for the rock band KISS can move forward with his wrongful termination lawsuit against Gene Simmons and other individuals associated with the group.

In his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, David Mathews alleges he was wrongfully fired from his job as a hairstylist in 2022 after he was incorrectly accused of being the source of a magazine article talking about lax coronavirus protocol within the band.

Mathews maintains he urged the defendants to “force” Fran Stueber, a guitar technician for co-lead vocalist Paul Stanley, to get medical attention and that he told Stueber in front of some of the defendants that he needed to go to the hospital.

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During an appearance on a recent episode of Billboard‘s “Behind The Setlist” podcast, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke about how he now tours and performs with his solo band. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I thought I could stay away from the stage [after the completion of KISS‘s ‘End Of The Road’ farewell tour]. It bears noting that there’s a magic that happens up there that words don’t really sort of describe. It’s a feeling, and it’s tough to talk about feelings. It’s probably closer to… There used to be a guy named Dr. [Arthur] Janov and he had a kind of a strange hippie point of view about people having their stuff pent up. So you put people in a padded room. And it was called scream therapy. You go in there and you just let loose and reportedly — I was never part of that, but reportedly — people would come out drenched in sweat and relieved and tired and you expel all this stuff. And going through life, there are rules. You can’t compliment women too much. There’s no more hugging. There’s all these rules. You can’t do trans jokes, gay jokes, Jew jokes, black — you can’t do any of that stuff because we’re very sort of… There are subtle rules that we all have to be aware of. Not on stage. You are free. You just expel all this energy, and it’s this celebration of life with the fans and you, and you get to this kind of joyous place. So the GENE SIMMONS BAND is a chance for me, with some friends who are monsters on their instruments, to go out there and just have a great time. It bears noting we don’t have managers, road crew, nothing. No trucks, nothing. The local promoters provide the backline, and we just get up there and play. And there are no set-in-stone setlists. Fans can yell, ‘Hey, why don’t you do ‘Almost Human’ from 1804?’ You betcha. And you break into it. Or, ‘Do you guys know ‘Whole Lotta Love’?’ ‘Yeah, I think so.’ And you break into it. Or you jam. And at every show we bring fans up on stage. ‘Can you sing?’ ‘Can you play? Let’s have a party.'”

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2025 tour dates:

April
5 – The Event at Graton Resort & Casino – Rohnert Park, CA
25 – Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL
26 – Miami Beach, FL – Fillmore
28 – The Moon – Tallahassee, FL
29 – Florida Theater – Jacksonville, FL
30 – Hard Rock Live – Orlando, FL

May
3 – Beaver Dam Amphitheater – Beaver Dam, KY
5 – Basie – Red Bank, NJ
6 – Wellmont – Montclair, NJ
8 – Wind Creek Casino – Bethlehem, PA
9 – The Paramount – Huntington, NY
15 – Fallsview Casino – Niagara Falls, ON
20 – Brown County Music Center – Nashville, IN
22 – House Of Blues – Dallas, TX
23 – Tobin Center – San Antonio, TX
24 – House Of Blues – Houston, TX