VINNIE VINCENT Cancels Comeback Concerts

Former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent has canceled his previously announced comeback shows.

Derek Christopher, the promoter of the event, says that Vincent "has sent a notification letter that he will not be performing the concerts scheduled for February 8th and 9th, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee."

Christopher adds: "While we cannot discuss the terms of the contract due to a confidentiality clause within the contract, we are shocked at this development, and it is, unfortunately, beyond our control. The matter has been turned over to our attorney. As they say, it's 'now in the hands of the lawyers.' In the meantime, every ticket and meet-and-greet order will be automatically refunded in full.

"We want to thank everyone who worked so diligently and tried so hard to make these shows happen. A lot of really good people were involved and tried to make these shows a reality for the fans."

Vincent's plan for his comeback has publicly changed several times. In the initial announcement, the show — which was originally slated to happen in November — was described as a true solo gig with Vinnie singing and playing songs from his career on acoustic guitar and telling stories about the old days.

Vincent had tapped drummer Carmine Appice (VANILLA FUDGE, ROD STEWART, JEFF BECK, BLUE MURDER) and bassist Tony Franklin (DAVID GILMOUR, JIMMY PAGE, THE FIRM) to join him at the Nashville concerts.

Robert Fleischman, a former member of JOURNEY and Vincent's post-KISS band VINNIE VINCENT INVASION, was supposed to sing for Vinnie but abruptly pulled out of the project in November, saying that he was unhappy about elements of the production.

Last summer, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons suggested in an interview that Vincent was "his own worst enemy" and expressed his doubt that Vinnie would successfully relaunch his career.

"There's something called the classic failure mechanism, which I was told by doctors and everything — I'm not saying he is one," Simmons said at the time when asked about Vincent's attempt to trademark the name "Vinnie Vincent's Kiss". "But there are people who simply cannot handle when things are starting to go their way — success — so they torpedo it by making stupid decisions to make sure they don't succeed, so they can deal with that."

Vincent — who was a member of KISS when the band publicly "unmasked" in 1983 — made several public appearances last year after spending the past two decades out of the public eye.

Vinnie joined KISS in 1982, replacing Ace Frehley. As the "Ankh Warrior," he toured with the group in support of "Creatures Of The Night", on which he played lead guitar on six songs prior to becoming an official member of the band.