Tommy Thayer — American guitarist — has been Kiss's guitarist since 2002, taking on the Spaceman persona created by Ace Frehley. His history with the band began long before that. Thayer led Black 'N Blue in the 1980s, a hard rock group produced by Gene Simmons, and then spent years working behind the scenes of the Kiss organisation — on archive projects, video production, and even teaching the original guitar parts to Ace Frehley during rehearsals for the 1996 reunion tour. Few knew the repertoire so well. When Frehley left for good in 2002, Thayer took the vacancy, and with it the Spaceman makeup and costume. It is the most contested decision in Kiss's recent history: for part of the audience the characters are roles any competent musician can fill; for another, they belong to the people who created them. He made Sonic Boom (2009) and Monster (2012) and was on the long farewell tour that ended in December 2023 — that is, more time in Kiss than Frehley himself. He plays the classic parts faithfully, which is exactly what the job demands.
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