Congratulations Tommy!!!
Thayer's wild ride with KISS
By Jason Vondersmith / pamplinmedia.com
Tommy Thayer, an Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee, marks 20th year as 'The Spaceman' in the great rock 'n' roll band.
It's been a "blessed" experience for Tommy Thayer as guitarist for the legendary rock 'n' roll band KISS — 20 years of tours all over the world and playing next to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley as "The Spaceman" in the group known for its makeup, costumes and explosive stage shows.
The days of KISS may be coming to an end, as Simmons and Stanley have announced the final U.S. stretch of the "End of the World Tour," starting Aug. 18 and ending Oct. 9, would be their last. The group known for "Detroit Rock City," "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud" and scores of other hits does plan to do a residency in late December to early February at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Then, it's over, supposedly, nearly 50 years of music and showtime greatness.
Meanwhile, for all his work with KISS and going back to his time with Portland band Black 'n Blue, which also earned national fame with the help of Geffen Records, Thayer has been inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. The ceremony, ironically, will be Oct. 9, but inductees already have been informed of the good news. For Thayer, a Beaverton native, it's his second induction, having been admitted with Black 'n Blue.
Thayer, 60 and living mostly in Las Vegas, said it's been nostalgic knowing KISS could be calling it a career.
"The last year and a half, it's given me time to take pause and step back and really appreciate the great opportunities and things I've been been able to do," he said. Thayer found a lot of memorabilia when moving recently from Los Angeles to Vegas and "it blew me away, and it dawned on me, 'I've done a lot, more than I thought.' All the different steps that took me to where I went … I sat back and said, 'I'm kind of proud of myself, because I have accomplished so much.'"
