ACE FREHLEY Admits He Was 'Really Aggravated' By PAUL STANLEY's Comments About Him On 'Howard Stern Show'

Ace Frehley has once again slammed Paul Stanley for the comments the KISS frontman made about the original KISS guitarist on "The Howard Stern Show".

Back in March 2023, radio host Howard Stern asked Stanley why he and fellow original KISS member Gene Simmons didn't perform with Frehley and drummer Peter Criss at the Rock Hall induction in 2014. Stanley said: "[The Rock Hall organizers] were demanding, quite honestly, that we play with the two original guys, Peter and Ace, and at this point, that would be demeaning to the [current KISS] band, and also would give some people confusion. 'Cause if you saw people on stage who looked like KISS but sounded like that, maybe we should be called PISS."

Ace addressed Paul's comments in a new interview with the "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern" podcast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know what caused or went through Paul's head when he made that statement, if me and Peter performed with them on stage, we'd sound like piss. But it really aggravated me and I got really mad and I went on the Eddie Trunk show and promised to come back in a month or two weeks and spill some dirt. And speaking to my attorney and my manager and my agent and my close confidants, they all said, 'Why don't you take the high road?' And I did. And I really didn't spill anything that most people didn't know already."

Circling back to whether he and Criss could have performed with KISS at the Rock Hall, Frehley said: "Peter isn't the drummer that he used to be. I love the guy to death. We were always closest friends and partied together, but he's had several injuries and he's just not the drummer he was way back when. I mean, he can still get up there and play three, four, five songs. There was no reason why when we got inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame that Peter couldn't have performed three songs flawlessly, because he's still got the chops; he just can't play two hours."

As for whether he thinks he will ever get a chance to play with Gene and Paul again, Ace said: "I really don't think it's ever gonna happen again. I think too much water has gone under the bridge. And I'm super busy with my new career, just as KISS ends up winding down their career, which makes no sense whatsoever. They must think it was some kind of master plan that as soon as they did their last show, I was gonna… And it wasn't; it wasn't at all. There was no master plan. It's just that I was rushing to finish my [new solo] record ['10,000 Volts'] because it was six months behind and, finally, we just cut some corners. The album would have been a lot better if I had another month to do, but I'm still very happy with the record. I don't think there's any filler. And there's a large variety of songs on the record — there's a ballad, there's an instrumental, there's a cover."

The 11-track "10,000 Volts" LP was produced by Ace and Steve Brown (TRIXTER) and will be released on February 23, 2024 via MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music).

Ace released the single "10,000 Volts" on November 28, 2023. The track's music video — directed by Alex Kouvatsos from Black Wolf Imaging — has garnered more than a million views on YouTube.

Ace's next all-original album will be the follow-up to "Spaceman", which was released in October 2018 via eOne.

Simmons co-wrote two tracks on "Spaceman", "Without You I'm Nothing" and "Your Wish Is My Command", the latter of which also features Gene's bass playing.

Photo credit: Jayme Thornton