Kiss Vegas Tribute Will Honor the ‘Huge Impact’ of Ace Frehley
Kiss Vegas Tribute Will Honor the ‘Huge Impact’ of Ace Frehley
Matt Wardlaw Tue, October 20, 2026 at 12:36 PM UTC
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©Hannah Foslien, Getty Images
The loss of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley is one that was deeply felt by the band’s fans, but those feelings are shared by the group as well.
The guitar legend died unexpectedly in October of 2025. When Kiss announced plans for the second annual Land-Locked in Vegas event earlier this year, they revealed that a special all-star tribute is in the works.
The group is also set to perform two “unmasked” concerts, one acoustic and one electric, during the scheduled weekend of events. Night Ranger, Bruce Kulick, Slaughter and Chris Jericho’s Kuarantine are among the other artists who are part of this year’s bill.
Frehley’s Death Was a ‘Huge Loss’
The Ace tribute will feature each member of Kiss performing a hand-picked Frehley song, something they say will create “a rare and deeply personal honoring” of the guitarist’s legacy.
“Well, it’s it’s an important thing,” Tommy Thayer tells UCR. “I mean, that was a huge loss last year for everyone and I think it really hit us.”
“I shouldn’t say us, but I mean, particularly Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons],” he says. “But it hit me too and it left an emptiness, Because look, there’s been some issues and interpersonal stuff through the years and this and that. But at the end of the day, I think everybody loves each other.”
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He Was an ‘Important Part of Creating’ What Kiss Does
As Thayer points out, the guitarist’s influence can be felt in numerous ways, when it comes to what Kiss became and has meant to people over the years, even after he was out of the lineup.
“He was such an important part of creating what they did in the first place. And obviously, even for me personally, Ace Frehley was such a huge part of my young teenage experience, learning to play guitar, learning to mimic his guitar parts and [other] things, which to me were so quintessential and so signature at the time,” he explains. “You know, he made a huge impact on a lot of people.”
‘Everybody Kind of Loses Part of Themselves’
Because of the years that Thayer spent working with Kiss, being around Frehley, in addition to his own fan experiences, he realizes the death of Ace is something that has touched and affected a lot of people.
“When something like that happens suddenly, and he’s gone, everybody kind of loses part of themselves, I guess, in a way,” he says. “I had the same feeling when Eddie Van Halen passed away. It’s just like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this,’ and it leaves kind of a hole in your heart and your musical soul, or something — it’s very strange.
“But he’s missed, so we’ll be having a nice Ace tribute,” he shares in closing. “It’s going to be well planned and everybody’s going to be involved. I think it’s really appropriate for this.”
Thayer is keeping busy this month. He’s about to release the debut album from Shogun Mojo, his new band with Dan Reed Network namesake Dan Reed. The guitarist will also head to Germany at the end of October to participate in a celebration of the area’s 50-year association with Kiss that will feature a variety of events and a lot of music, including performances by one of the area’s top tribute bands and also, metal queen Doro Pesch.
READ MORE: Watch Kiss Guitarist Tommy Thayer in New Band Shogun Mojo’s Debut Video
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
