Ace Frehley claims his new album will make his former KISS bandmates “look like imbeciles”.
The ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ group’s former guitarist and co-vocalist says he’s getting his own back on Gene Simmons, 74, and Paul Stanley, 71, for trying to “destroy my reputation” by releasing his best music yet with his upcoming solo collection ‘10,000 Volts’, which arrives on February 4.
He told Guitar World: “[Co-frontmen] Paul [Stanley]and Gene [Simmons] have tried to destroy my reputation over the years – we know that. And unfortunately for them, ‘10,000 Volts’ is going to make them look like imbeciles.
“KISS hasn’t put out a record since 2002.
“Here I am, 17 years sober and it’s my sixth record since leaving KISS. I keep chugging along, and nobody can stop me.
“Creating amazing music is the best way to combat someone putting you down. That’s how I shut them up.”
Ace’s latest swipe at his old bandmates comes after he recently slammed their avatars for their upcoming hologram shows in 2027.
The 72-year-old axe-slayer told Rock Antenne: “I don’t get this avatar thing that they’re gonna do.”
He continued: “I mean, I saw some of it on a video on YouTube last night. It kind of looked like it, you know, was geared towards children. And it’s not rock and roll. I get up on stage without backing tracks, plug my guitar into a Marshall and go. That’s it. It’s always been that way and always will be.”
Gene had reassured fans that the KISS avatars will “get better”.
After the veteran rockers hung up their platform boots following their final concert at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 2, they surprised fans at the end of the gig by debuting digital versions of themselves created by the teams behind the lucrative ABBA Voyage hologram show in London.
And during a Q+A at Electric Lady Studios in New York, co-vocalist and bass player Gene claimed millions of dollars are being pumped into the project.
He told one fan: “There’s so much being planned, even beyond my comprehension. But they’re spending, oh, about 200 million [dollars] to take it to the next level.”