Gene Simmons Told Doug Aldrich to Lose His Phone Number

Former Whitesnake and Dio guitarist Doug Aldrich recalled an angry phone call with Gene Simmons that took place after he auditioned to replace Ace Frehley in Kiss in 1982 – a position that eventually went to Vinnie Vincent.

The incident took place after Aldrich decided to use his recent contact with Simmons to secure his first-ever backstage passes. “There was a party at his house, you could hear it,” he told the White Line Fever podcast. “They were partying. I called him and he was like, ‘Lose this number!’ I was crushed, I was devastated. I turned around and I was like, ‘I’m sorry guys, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the show.’ Actually, I don’t have his number anymore, but I know how to get hold of him – I have his email.”

You can listen to the interview below.

Aldrich, who’s now a member of the Dead Daisies, said he thinks Kiss would probably have followed a path similar to the one they have even if they had chosen him over Vincent.

“At the time, everyone was looking for guitar players who had a little more chops,” he said. “Everybody wanted to have an Eddie Van Halen. … [Kiss] were having trouble with Ace, or whatever, and I think they wanted someone who also had a little bit more of a technical style maybe. Vinnie is very technical, and I think we were all kind of going down the same road at that time. It probably would have been similar at that time. But I really like that stuff that Vinnie did with them. That was some of my – aside from the Ace classics – favorite stuff that they did."