Following up on last week’s war of KISS words, original guitarist Ace Frehley did return to Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, with a follow up, of sorts.
When asked if he heard from vocalist Paul Stanley after last weeks appearance, Frehley replied (as per blabbermouth.net), “Yes, he did — not long after the show was over. And I was blindsided by the phone call because I saw his name come up on my cell phone. And I spoke to him a hundred different times on that number, and that can be verified by Verizon, who is my cell phone carrier. I figured he was calling me maybe to apologize or at least explain why he said that. Maybe he meant it really more towards Peter [Criss, original drummer] than me, and whatever the case may be. But instead of an apology, I got a five-second phone call which said, ‘Fuck you, Ace. I’m not gonna apologize,’ and hung up. He wasn’t even man enough to let me give a rebuttal and explain why I’m so upset or anything like that…. It wasn’t a text. It was a phone call. And the only reason I picked up it is because it said ‘Paul S‘. When it comes to the guys, I never write their full name [into my phone]. God forbid somebody finds my phone. They may not figure out that it’s Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and I would never give out their phone numbers.”
When Eddie followed up by asking Ace if he is certain the call came from Paul, the guitarist said, “Absolutely. And I did screengrabs from [my wireless carrier] Verizon on… It’s the same day as our [previous] interview, and it says [the call lasted] five seconds… Some idiot out there might say, ‘Oh, well. Ace is a graphic artist. He’s really good at Photoshop. He could have probably Photoshopped it.’ Well, guess what. It’s still on the servers, and I’m still gonna get a bill from Verizon that’s gonna say a five-second phone call from ‘P.S.‘, Paul Stanley. And God forbid I sue them for defamation of character, a judge can order them to pull it off the servers, because it’s still there.”
According to the guitarist, he been in contact with the band’s longtime manager Doc McGhee regarding the incident. “I told Doc McGhee this whole story, and you know what he came back with? He said, ‘Paul said he never called you,’ number one. Number two, Doc said to me [Paul] uses AT&T — not realizing that it really doesn’t matter if he calls me from Tokyo from [some foreign] cell phone company,” Frehley said. “My carrier documents every phone call I get. I can’t believe Doc said that to me. I thought he was a little smarter than that when it came to cell phones.”
He went on to say that he “would have been happy if Paul had just called me one on one like a man and apologized. That would have sufficed,” he explained. “But after cursing me out on the phone, the gloves are off… And I’ve known Paul for almost 50 years, and we’ve always had a really good rapport on the cell phone. But I recognized his voice. If you know somebody 50 years, you know their voice. I would never lie about something like that, and I can prove it. We’re living in a world with technology that has footprints.”
As for his previous threat to release “a 120-page manuscript” that he wrote after he finished his book that would supposedly “ruin” Stanley and Simmons’ careers, he has apparently had a change of heart.
“I spoke to several good friends of mine, who are God-fearing people and I go to AA [alcoholics anonymous] meetings with, and they said, ‘Don’t ever sink to their level. That’s what they do. That’s what they’ve been doing for years. Why are you goonna sink to their level?'” he said. “So, then I came to the realization that I don’t even have to bring up anything that I have hidden away in my attorney’s safe deposit box. I can just talk about things that they’ve said about me in black and white. They can’t come after me after that because they said it — it’s in black and white.”
When Eddie asked, if all this means that “the ship has sailed” on the possibility of him playing with KISS at the band’s final shows in New York City in early December, Frehely said: “Not necessarily. Money motivates me, just like it motivates them, but I don’t put money before God. If I got a quarter of a million dollars a night, and I can make half a million dollars for playing three or four songs, five songs, I’d take the money. [I’d] buy a Ferrari… buy a Maserati. [Laughs] I don’t really wanna play with those guys ever again after what they’ve done, but money can change my mind.”
He continued, “Look, I’m a capitalist. I grew up in America. But I’d never put money before people’s feelings. I like money as much as the next guy does, but money isn’t my God, like it is theirs. They’re all atheists. Whatever they can do or say, whether it’s true or false, as long as it makes them the most amount of money, they’re gonna do [it].”
He also addressed the issue of whether he would perform with KISS at the band’s final concerts while wearing his trademark “Spaceman” makeup — the same makeup his replacement Tommy Thayer has been sporting for more than two decades. “Sure. For a quarter of a million dollars,” he said, explaining that “I’m a good-looking guy. I don’t need the makeup.”
When pressed about what he thinks the odds are of him playing with the band at the final concerts in New York are, Frehley said, “It all depends on money. If I get a formal invitation with a check, I’ll be there. But they’ve gotta have deep pockets… If they don’t wanna pay me, I won’t be there, ladies and gentleman.”
He also confirmed, once again, that he has never received a formal invitation to join his former bandmates at their last-ever shows. “Absolutely not,” he said. “From what I understand, the shows are sold out. The only reason they sold out is they made innuendos that me and Peter were gonna be there, [that] they invited us. I wasn’t invited. They lie all the time. Haven’t they said, ‘We’re inviting Ace and Peter to come up and play?’ Or at least me? Multiple times. So, people bought the tickets. But I haven’t been given a formal invitation or given an offer monetarily. And I’m probably not gonna get one now after this interview. And guess what: I don’t give a s–t.”
Despite everything that has been said between all the parties, Ace claims that he still looks back fondly on his time with KISS and he doesn’t hate his former bandmates.
“Look, the bottom line is this: deep down in my heart, I love those guys, because we created something so special that it will be remembered for years,” he said. “When we’re all dead and buried, there will still be people listening to KISS music. And I’m overjoyed. But I want my legacy to be cleared of any of this bulls–t and lies.”
18 Responses
Money is the root of all evil
Can we make t-shirts that say “F–k you Ace” on the front and “I’m not apologizing” on the back? Maybe get AT&T and Verizon to co-sponsor?
Brilliant! I’m doing it !
Ace should do it sell em at his shows he would make a killing … oh wait …Gene beat him to it ~
Paul Stanley didn’t call Ace….a pre-recorded track called him.
Lol !!
LMFAO!!!
Rattle,
Genius-lol!!!!
This is so sad. Wading through all the rhetoric, Ace just wants to be back in the band. For years he keeps saying he is mad at Gene and Paul, the “gloves are off,” etc., and despite everything that has been said or happened, he will come back to them for the right price. It’s sad and weird. Underneath all this, Ace just wishes he was in the band again.
I saw some comments on the previous post about ace not wanting to dish dirt ,ace is a wimp etc… I do agree 70 yr old men acting this way is ridiculous and it is especially when they are all very well off , I think and will continue to believe it doesn’t matter how old you are, if you live your life in the public eye like everyone in kiss and you are constantly insulted and disrespected for years its going to bother you and take an emotional toll ,especially if your still making money from the kiss business entity like ace is not sure about pete ?? sometimes it’s best to take the high road – in my personal opinion stanley & simmons ruined kiss and everything they once stood for , knowing what godawful pricks they are just makes this situation even sadder ~