GEORGE LYNCH Says ACE FREHLEY Wasn't An Influence On His Guitar Playing: 'And I Feel Bad Saying That' After 'He Just Died'

In a new interview with Robert Cavuoto of Myglobalmind, legendary guitarist George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) was asked if late KISS axeman Ace Frehley was an influence on his playing. George responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. And I feel bad saying that, that he just died, but he wasn't. The only thing that impressed me — not impressed me, but the thing that really actually transfixed me with KISS in the early days was their image and their show… The first album, I just looked at, 'Who are these demons? What the hell? It's so cool.' And it influenced, I think, all of us, just like VAN HALEN influenced us, and [LED] ZEPPELIN influenced everybody. It was one of those things."

Lynch added: "I was watching last night, somebody sent me a link to some old STP [STONE TEMPLE PILOTS] concert where they all painted their faces and dressed up like KISS. That was just fascinating. I love it."

In the late 1970s, George's pre-DOKKEN band THE BOYZ reportedly played a showcase gig for KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. Lynch later reflected on the experience in an interview with the "Cobras & Fire" podcast, saying: "[Gene] made us change our names. He was just, like, 'All your names suck. You need new names.' So he gave us all new names. I became Adam Wolf — actually, the singer became Adam Wolf, I became John Lynx. I think [drummer] Mick [Brown] or the bass player was Nikki Thunders — I think Mick was Nikki Thunders. And the bass player was Trevor Roxx. And that lasted for a couple of days, and we changed our names to our real names."

Asked if he had any run-ins with Gene after DOKKEN became a success, George said: "Yeah, we did a freaking tour with them. I did read some — I don't normally read rock biographies, but I did read the VAN HALEN one. And there was a thing in there where Gene just made a really quick mention about us being the band that he actually came to see a second time with Ace [Frehley]. And he talked about signing us. He didn't really discuss that in the book, which was the case. Unfortunately, VAN HALEN came out after us, and they just shifted gears and got VAN HALEN, but his mention in the book was, 'Yeah, XCITER [George's other pre-DOKKEN band] was on that too and they sucked.' That's all he said. I think the first time he saw us we might have been THE BOYZ, and he liked us and talked to us, we were playing Starwood, and I think by that time we changed our name to XCITER and got a different singer."

More than a decade ago, George talked about DOKKEN's 1985 tour as the support act for KISS, telling the KissFAQ.com web site: "[KISS guitarist/vocalist] Paul Stanley invited [then-DOKKEN bassist] Jeff Pilson and I up to his hotel room to write songs after one of the shows. We were very excited, knocked on his door, pushing our recording rack on wheels that we toured with. He let us in wrapped in a towel and soaking wet. He suggested we put on towels too and jump up and down on the beds to get our creative juices flowing, which we did, but then we never wrote any songs. That was weird."

George's long-running band LYNCH MOB will release its ninth and final full-length studio album, "Dancing With The Devil", on November 28, 2025, via Frontiers Music Srl.

As was the case with LYNCH MOB's eighth studio album, 2023's "Babylon", "Dancing With The Devil" features Lynch alongside vocalist Gabriel Colón, bassist Jaron Gulino (TANTRIC, HEAVENS EDGE) and drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS).

The current touring lineup of LYNCH MOB includes Lynch, Gulino, vocalist Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE) and drummer Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER, OZZY OSBOURNE).