KISS main men Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons refused to regroup the original KISS line-up for a performance at the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction because they were afraid fans would demand a reunion tour, according to guitarist Ace Frehley.
Stanley and Simmons pulled the plug on a performance at induction in April after the Hall of Fame bosses refused to honor their current bandmates alongside original members Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, so the live spectacular fans had hoped for was nixed – and now the group’s original guitarist tells WENN the KISS army will never forgive his old bandmates.
He explains, “After 40 years, you think they could have given the fans 15 minutes that night. Peter and I wanted to perform, the Hall of Fame wanted us to do it, but Paul and Gene shot it down. It was a moment in history that was lost and some of the fans will never forgive them for that.
But I’ll tell you why Paul and Gene didn’t wanna perform with me and Peter – they were afraid of history repeating itself. When me and Peter performed with them on the MTV Unplugged sessions in 1995, the place went completely crazy and they had to scrap their album that they had just recorded with Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer and they had to do a reunion tour.
They’re on tour right now with Tommy (Thayer) and Eric (Singer) and they didn’t want anything to overshadow that. They were afraid that everyone was gonna demand a reunion again if we played.”
And Frehley has used his new WENN interview to respond to fresh criticism from Stanley, who recently stated his former lead guitarist was not fit “to wear the uniform,” explaining, “If you no longer can uphold your end or live up to the stature that we set for ourselves in the beginning, if you are compromised by drugs or alcohol, if you’ve lost sight of how lucky we are to be in this position, then you no longer deserve to wear the uniform.”
Frehley insists he was never as bad as his former bandmates paint him – and he hopes his new album Space Invader, due August 19th and his first solo album in five years, will prove he’s still got what it takes.
He adds, “It’s a joke. In concert, I always delivered, and 95 per cent of the time I delivered on record. It’s there, it’s history. All they’re trying to do is discredit me, so it validates the new line-up. They’ll look foolish when my new album comes out.
“I think they’re just cranky that every time they go on the Internet they have to read fans saying, ‘Get Ace back’.”
source: express.co.uk
187 Responses
Steve d know
Ace lost his house….you think Gene & Paul want this guy to screw up Kiss again like his personal life? What’s Peter doing? Lining up horror conventions to sign drum heads? Correct Joe….big crowds. Ace in Scranton at an old 1950’s brick union hall with 165 of his church of Frehley loom large this Fall. Kiss Week ’15, the big Doc news.
The way I see it is that Ace and Peter are alive and doing their own thing. I really don’t get the reason why Paul and Gene keep commenting on all the sins of the past. Enough!
Good luck to Ace on his new release. He has always had a very unique playing style and I think his song writing has been more accepted by fans over the years. As with any band there is fact and fiction. I really dont care anymore what happened and how many times Ace was wasted. Paul and Gene cant be that clean. Oh well take your pick. I choose Ace
Why is Ace commenting about the past?? The RRHOF is over… Ace is bringing this shit up because he has an album coming out so he’s getting his name out in the news…problem is nobody cares…
George, didn’t Paul do the same thing to help sell his book?
YUP WHAT HE SAID
Yes you are correct…The irony is the two that keep taking jabs ate Ace and Paul when normally it would be Gene or Peter taking jabs…my point is Ace needs to shutup just like Paul when asked these baiting questions about the original Kiss…just move on
Samething Paul Stanley did, so what is the difference, can you answer that question George?? Joe in The Cuse
There is no difference…They both need to shutup…that’s my point…
At least you cared to comment – remember: any publicity is good publicity …
I’d like to know where everyone is getting their info that this tour is selling out. Its not. The tickets are absurdly expensive and the two headliners are barely playing an hour a piece.
Wow Jim…sorry for your confusion as you obviously have all the sales figures…boy if Jim says it, it must be true…where are you getting your info from Jim…you are the typical moron that has nothing to say…why post that…you want facts Jimmy…go to the show and see how many people are there and don’t put out such an ignorant comment…
Just go on Ticketmaster and look it up. There’s plenty on great seats left for the show in Boston on Friday night. The tour is doing well, but not selling out everywhere. Alpine Valley started giving discount on lawn seats months ago.
“look it up”, it’s only right now
There are almost NO BANDS that have a complete sellout period…I go to at least 30 shows a year and I always am able to get tickets day of show or a few days before…to say that this current Kiss tour is not selling well is idiotic…
There is nothing wrong with not completely selling out, few bands do today, the problem is, Paul is always saying they are as big if not bigger than ever …! So maybe you start thinking if that is true if there are seats left in a relatively small venue (compared to former days and tours). Kiss is also posting images of the crowds on the curretn tour always using the same caption of “massive crowd”, but what we see is a (admittely) dense crowd BUT in a relatively small venue, so it is a matter or proportion oánd perspective, it might be massive (i.e. sold-out) but is far less that it was 10 years ago. So, it all comes down to propaganda again.
Speaking of Paul and Gene, those two guy’s egos are so swollen and their arrogance is so great, I feel that no matter how well Ace’s new album does or how great it is, they won’t care or give it a thought. Besides, they’ve made themselves look foolish enough with all the dumb things they’ve done and said that I don’t see how much more foolish they can look.