Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley continues to diss his former band, and his latest victim is Tommy Thayer, the guitarist who took his place in the group from 2002 to 2023.
During an interview with Guitar World, Frehley was asked if his own guitar playing is based on instinct; he used his response to call out Thayer.
“It is. I’ve never had a guitar lesson. I was born with a certain technique that many people, namely Tommy Thayer, can’t duplicate,” he replied, noting that now that KISS is no longer touring, “It’s back to the breadline for him.”
Frehley recently released the title track off his upcoming solo album, 10,000 Volts, which drops February 23. He believes fans are more interested in his song than they are his former band.
“I was on YouTube last night and I noticed that the music video for ‘10,000 Volts’ is creeping up on half a million views,” Frehley says. “Then I checked on a video of one of KISS’ final live shows, and they didn’t have close to that.”
But even with those digs, Frehley insists he doesn’t take things as far as his former bandmates, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.
“I’ve always been the kind of guy to let the music do the talking, you know? The less I say … I think that sometimes, that’s the best route to go,” he says. “Paul and Gene always like to elaborate and put people down. … Maybe it makes them feel better, or perhaps it’s because they’re just insecure. I don’t know the reason.”
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