Tommy Thayer Reflects on Going from Kiss Fan to Spaceman to the End of the Road

Tommy Thayer with a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul in metallic white

Tommy Thayer with a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul in metallic white (Image credit: Jen Rosenstein)

When Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons pull off their platform heels for the final time, they’ll have been at the helm of Kiss for almost 50 years — an amazing experience, to be sure. But what might be an even more amazing experience? To be in the space boots of Tommy Thayer, who grew up in Seventies Oregon worshipping Kiss, only to eventually find himself a fully costumed, full-fledged member of the band.

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Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.