ACE FREHLEY Schedules 'Rockline' Appearance

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, September 16 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with Frehley by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625).

For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.

Frehley is prepping a new solo album and happily done with KISS forever. Frehley left the group in the spring of 2001, after the Australian leg of their "Farewell" tour. He explained to Rolling Stone that he feels as though he fulfilled his obligations — but that the ongoing extensions made him lose the urge to keep going, saying, "The reunion tour was supposed to be it — that's what they told me when they asked me to do it. But then they go, 'Now we want to do a farewell tour.' I said, 'OK, I'll do a farewell tour.' It ended in Australia, and then I get a phone call when I come back, 'Now we want to do something else.' Then Gene (Simmons) is on my answering machine, 'Ace, we're going to go out. If you don't want to do it, we're going to use another guitar player.' What is that, a threat? I didn't even answer the phone. That was that."

Frehley was asked if he keeps in touch with the band. "Yeah, I spoke to Paul (Stanley),Peter (Criss) — I haven't spoken to Gene in a couple of years," he said. "The last time Gene left a message on my answering machine, it was to do his television show. He was doing a roast. I wanted to do it, so I called Paul and Peter, and both of them told me that they weren't going to do it. So after hearing that, I felt like, 'Well, if the whole band isn't going to be there to roast Gene, maybe it would be better if I didn't do it either.' Because initially, Gene told me it was going to be Steven Tyler and Cher, and they backed out. You don't jump on a sinking ship."

Frehley releases his first solo album in nearly 20 years called "Anomaly" on September 15.

Former KISS documentarian Tommy Thayer now "portrays" Frehley's character in KISS' live show. Unlike Frehley's original replacement Vinnie Vincent — who was given his own unique persona — fans have had mixed reactions to Thayer duping some fans into thinking Frehley is still playing with the band. Thayer looks at it from a theatrical, rather than a historical perspective. "You've had different guitarists in and out of the band, and different members — at this point, if you start introducing new characters and new makeup designs and things, that I think that it really dilutes the whole core and, you know, the original foundation of what KISS is," he told The Pulse of Radio. "And those four original characters are certainly the whole basis of it. To change that and come up with a new design or character, it just convolutes things."