Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley to Perform Live Together for First Time Since 2001
Former Kiss bandmates Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons are set to perform live together for the first time in more than 16 years.
Frehley will appear on the bill for the Children Matter Benefit Concert in St. Paul, Minn., which is being headlined by Simmons' solo band. Today's announcement also confirmed that Frehley and Simmons will share the stage. Cheap Trick and former Eagles guitarist Don Felder are slated to perform, as well.
This will be the third notable collaboration between Frehley and his former bandmates in recent years. Last April, founding Kiss guitarist and singer Paul Stanley contributed vocals to a cover of Free's "Fire and Water" for Frehley's album Origins, Vol. 1.
This past June, Simmons revealed that he and Frehley had written a pair of songs together. "He asked me to write for his next solo record," Simmons said. "So, I went over to his place, way out in the desert some place, and we wrote two things."
Frehley, who last year celebrated a decade of sobriety, performed with Kiss from their formation in 1973 until his first departure in 1982. He rejoined for a reunion tour in 1996, then left at the conclusion of Kiss' "Farewell" tour in 2001.
Despite that tour title, Simmons and Stanley ultimately decided to keep Kiss together without Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss – just as they did throughout much of the '80s and '90s. Eric Singer replaced Criss and Tommy Thayer took over lead-guitar duties. Criss announced his retirement from live performances earlier this year, and played what he called his final U.S. show in June.
According to an official news release, all proceeds from the Children Matter Benefit Concert will be directed to the hurricane-relief efforts of MATTER. The nonprofit works in partnership with on-the-ground organizations to source and ship needed items such as meal kits, and sanitation and contamination-prevention supplies to the those impacted by hurricanes. You can learn more about MATTER via their official website.
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