Watch Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley reunite onstage

Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley
Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley

Kiss star Gene Simmons reunited with former bandmate Ace Frehley last night at a benefit show in support of victims of Hurricane Harvey.

The concert at CHS Field Stadium in St Paul, Minnesota marked the first time that Simmons and Frehley had played together in public since 2001 – and they ripped through classic Kiss tracks Parasite, Cold Gin and Shock Me.

The concert was organised to raise funds for the charity MATTER, who work in partnership with on-ground relief organisations to source and ship the items needed most in the affected areas devastated by the recent hurricane.

Don Felder and Cheap Trick also performed, while the Gene Simmons Band headlined the event.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Simmons had co-written two new tracks for Frehley’s next solo album.

Frehley later told Eddie Trunk: “I just shot him an e-mail and said, ‘C’mon, let’s write some songs together for my new record. Next thing you know, he’s down here and within three hours we had written two songs together, which was, like, a record, for me and him.

“We had a fantastic time. He came down. We ate in the backyard while I was watering my palm trees. He was going to my fiancée Rachel, ‘This is something new I’ve never seen before.’ He’s eating a sandwich and I’m watering a palm tree in my backyard. But it was a lot of fun.”

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.