KISS’ original line-up consisted of Paul Stanley as the lead singer, Gene Simmons as the bassist, Ace Frehley as the lead guitarist, and Peter Criss as the drummer. It was described as the band’s most successful and influential line-up thanks to their iconic records and unforgettable stage performances. However, both Frehley and Criss had to leave the band after almost ten years of playing together because of the creative differences between the band members.
The original KISS members decided to reunite in 1996 which made their fans very excited and happy back then, but their happiness couldn’t last long. Following the band’s farewell tour in 2000, Peter Criss parted ways with KISS once again for personal reasons along with Ace Frehley who decided to leave the band to pursue a solo career. Eric Singer was hired as the new drummer, and Tommy Thayer replaced Frehley.
Why Did Ace Frehley Attack Tommy Thayer?
Tommy Thayer was the band’s manager before he joined KISS as the lead guitarist following Frehley’s second departure in 2002. Therefore the duo was together during KISS’ Farewell Tour which began on March 11, 2000, in Phoenix and ended on April 13, 2001, in Gold Coast. In one of his previous interviews, the former guitarist unveiled that they had a strict rule about not inviting their girlfriends to the dressing room.
Frehley recalled the moment saying:
“That’s really out of character for me. What happened was, we had an ongoing rule on a tour that there’s no women allowed in the dressing room.
When we’re getting ready, we don’t want anybody… We don’t even want guys in there. We had a standing rule that no girlfriends or anything are allowed in the dressing room.
I had a girlfriend with me – a model from Canada, and, of course, she always had to wait outside. When Shannon and Paul’s wife came on tour, they just pranced into the dressing room. I let it go – I didn’t make a big deal out of it.”
The main reason behind that rule was focusing on their performance without any distraction, so every member followed it until the end of the tour. Frehley thought that he could let his girlfriend come to the dressing room on the last day of the tour but the tour’s manager Thayer didn’t agree with him. The guitarist reminded Frehley of the ‘no women in the dressing room’ rule, and Ace Frehley found it too authoritative.
He added:
“But now, this is the last day of the tour in Australia. Everybody has left the dressing room. Paul, Gene, and Peter. Was Peter there, or was it, Eric? It’s not important to the story. They had all split, so my girlfriend was standing outside, and I said, ‘Hey, honey, come on in. Nobody’s here.’
Five minutes later, Tommy Thayer comes walking in and goes, ‘Ace, you know the rule – no women in the dressing room.’ I go, ‘There’s nobody here. It’s the end of the tour.’
He started being authoritative with me, so I gave him a shot. I got aggravated. I guess the Bronx boy in me came out.”
As a result of this argument about the tour’s rule, Frehley was so angry that he punched Thayer in the face. However, Frehley didn’t reveal what happened between them after this fight, or what was Thayer’s response to this punch in his interview. As it can be understood from his statement that the argument became an unforgettable memory between the predecessor and successor.
