Tommy Thayer Reflects On How Fondly KISStory Will Remember Him

Longtime KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer is perhaps best-known for not being Ace Frehley, despite the Spaceman getup and Les Pauls he's donned in service of the Kiss Army since 2002.

Thayer worked for Kiss behind-the-scenes for years before being called up to replace Frehley. He was recently asked by Guitar World how he thinks he'll be remembered when the 'End of the Road' farewell tour concludes.

While he's considered by many to be the "new guy," he noted that he's played lead guitar in Kiss longer than any one of his predecessors, including Frehley.

"My legacy will be a guy who came in, worked hard, and was the glue that kept the band together for a long period of time," he said. "I think the kind of character and personality that I have is that of a team player and somebody who can bring people together and bind things together.

"And I think the reason that we've done so well and so consistently in the last 20 years is because of the personalities, the give and take, and the ability to keep everybody happy… and keep working together on a professional level."

Thayer then addressed Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley's dream of having the band continue as a touring entity after their respective retirement. He said that if the co-founders have their way, he'll probably remain in the band for some years to shepherd a new era of Kiss.

"I'll probably be that guy that has been in the band longer than anybody else besides Gene and Paul, that kept things together, and was the glue that made it work," he said.

Kiss's original retirement plan was to complete their tour this past summer, but complications from the COVID pandemic made that impossible. Stanley recently said that the band hopes to complete all the stops on the 'End of the Road' tour by early-2023 at the latest.

That should be just in time for the band biopic, Shout It Out Loud, to hit Netflix.