Ace Frehley says he turned down Kiss's Las Vegas celebration

Ace Frehley studio portrait — (Image credit: Jayme Thornton)

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says he turned down an invitation to join his old bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley at their upcoming Kiss Kruise: Land-locked in Vegas shows.

The event, which the band describes as the "next evolution" of the long-running Kiss Kruise, will feature two acoustic performances from Simmons, Stanley and Tommy Thayer, and takes place at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in November.

Joining the Kiss men at the event will be producer Bob Ezrin and photographer Lynn Goldsmith, as well as former guitarist Brice Kulick's current band Kuarantine, but Frehley will not be joining the party.

"They asked me and I declined," he tells Guitar World. "There’s no way I’m gonna be involved with that, you know? Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.

"There are multiple reasons. You know, Paul, towards the end, about nine months before Kiss was going to play Madison Square Garden, both Paul and Gene were saying, ‘We’re going to bring everybody out on stage.’

"And then, a few months before the concert, they both changed their tune and said, ‘Ace and Peter [Criss] aren’t going to do it.’ In fact, Paul went on to say, ‘If Ace and Peter got on stage with us, the band could be called Piss.’ So, I kind of got into an argument with him."

Frehley does end on a conciliatory note, saying, "I’m the kind of guy that never says never. I don’t hate Paul or Gene, you know? We’re rock and roll brothers, and Peter, too. So, anything can happen."

Kiss Kruise: Land-locked in Vegas takes place November 14-16. Tickets are available now.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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