Founding KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is preparing to head Down Under next month for a tour of New Zealand and Australia in support of his recent solo album, Space Invader.
In advance of the trek, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was interviewed by Australia’s Today show this week and candidly revealed his reasons for leaving his famous band in the early 1980s.
“I quit because I started abusing substances and alcohol,” he told the Today interviewer.
“And I also wasn’t agreeing with the direction of the way the band was going. You know, we had that big hit [the disco-influenced] ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ and I’m more of a blues-based rock guitar player.”
Frehley went on to explain that after he exited KISS, “there was a sigh of relief, because…I just thought I was gonna end up being a statistic.” The 63-year-old rocker added, “By the grace of God, I’m here today, clean sober eight years, and life’s never been better.”
He also talked about his relationship with his ex-band mates, insisting that there isn’t as much bad blood as people might think.
“The press makes it out that we all hate each other and there’s all this rivalry and jealousy and, you know, there really isn’t,” he maintained. “I mean, when we were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, we all got along famously.”
Ace also mentioned that while he was mixing Space Invader, he had an amicable phone conversation with Gene Simmons.
“We were chatting for 25, 30 minutes,” Frehley revealed. “He wouldn’t let me off the phone. He was reminiscing about the ’70s.”
Frehley’s Down Under tour kicks off April 24 in Wellington, New Zealand, and will run through a May 7 show in Mount Lawley, Australia. Ace also has a series of European shows scheduled in June.
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Story photo courtesy Casablanca Records
Cover photo credit: Jamiecat