While wishing Ace Frehley a happy 71st birthday, Gene Simmons took the opportunity to once again invite his former bandmate to join Kiss on stage.
“Happy Birthday, Ace. And many more,” the singer and bassist tweeted. “The invitations still stand. Jump up onstage with us for encores. The fans would love it.”
While Frehley and original Kiss drummer Peter Criss have been welcomed to join Simmons as a reunion of Kiss’ origins, the singer has made it clear that it would only be for special or limited occasions.
“Ace and Peter have gotten three chances,” Simmons explained in a 2019 interview. “They were in and out of the band — fired — three times. For drugs, alcohol, bad behavior, being unprofessional. … So the only reason Ace and Peter were let go the first time, and then the second time, and then the third time, is that they weren’t carrying their load. … So the short answer to your question is we’d love to have Ace and Peter join us here and there. And if they don’t, it’s not going to be because of us. But they’re never going to be in Kiss again.”
In response, Frehley took to Facebook to give his own opinions of Simmons as “an a–hole and a sex addict who’s being sued by multiple women,” among other things.
This public spat, of course, has been years of drama in the making. Still, the possibility of Frehley rejoining Kiss onstage is not completely gone.
The former guitarist has said he’d be willing to play with the band again, as long as he would be able to reclaim the Spaceman identity from current Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer.
“The only way I would consider coming back is [if] I took over Tommy’s place,” he said in 2018. “He took over my place — a character that I invented. He’s pretty much going through the motions, but the only way I would consider going back is to replace Tommy and regain my throne. Number two, I’d like a big paycheck because I think I deserve it.”
—
Photo credit: Blueee77 / Shutterstock.com