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About Tommy Thayer

Picking up the guitar at 13, Tommy Thayer immediately knew he was destined to live the rock and roll dream. Born on November 7th, 1960 in Portland, Oregon, Tommy grew up in the 1960s hearing the sounds of the Beatles coming from his older brother's record player. By his early teens, his passion for 70s hard rock led to a slew of garage bands which eventually evolved into the hard-rocking Black 'N Blue, who were subsequently signed to Geffen Records in 1983. Tommy co-wrote a majority of the songs on the four Black 'N Blue releases, with record sales reaching over one million worldwide. In the course of his time touring with Black 'N Blue, he crossed paths with KISS.

As a 20-year member of the KISS family, Tommy participated in numerous musical projects both as a sounding board and at times as a musical contributor, before finally becoming a member of the legendary group. He's credited with production on the first volume of the 9 pound KISStory books, coordinated and managed the official 1995 Worldwide KISS Convention Tour, he directed & produced the double-platinum KISS Second Coming DVD longform, and created the opening title montage featured in New Line Cinema's Detroit Rock City. Tommy has co-written songs with KISS including "Betrayed" "The Street Giveth & The Street Taketh Away" from 1989's "Hot in the Shade" and "Childhood's End" from Carnival of Souls.

Tommy Thayer 1987 - Black 'N Blue

In preparation for the KISS Alive Worldwide Reunion tour in 1996, Tommy worked with Ace Frehley, assisting in his review and relearning of his signature guitar solos and guitar parts. In Ace Frehley's absence in early 2002, Tommy donned the Spaceman persona for three KISS performances, including a KISS concert in Jamaica on March 6, 2002, a KISS/That 70s Show national TV campaign on FOX TV in March 2002 and KISS' nationally televised primetime performance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary show on ABC in April 2002.

Tommy continued work on the production of many other KISS film and video projects including Showtime Entertainment's pay-per-view, The Last KISS (2000), VH1's KISS Beyond The Make-up TV special (2001), and the much anticipated KISS Symphony DVD and television pay-per-view (coming later in 2003).

In early 2003, Tommy officially took over the coveted KISS lead guitar spot and KISS announced it would join forces with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a one-off extravaganza at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne Australia. This concert spectacular was recorded and filmed in front of 40,000 rabid KISS fans and was released worldwide as a pay-per-view, CD and DVD later that year. A subsequent KISS Japanese tour in March 2003 was next; as a forerunner to the monumental KISS-Aerosmith World Domination tour that kicked off in summer 2003, setting sales records and a top grossing tour of the year in Pollstar Magazine.

Tommy Thayer 2004 - KISS

Tommy and KISS hit the road again in May 2004 with the KISS Rock The Nation Tour. The around-the-world trek opened in Australia, continued on to Japan and then rocked and rolled back to the USA. The tour was chronicled in the concert/documentary DVD, KISS Rock The Nation Live! again produced by Tommy Thayer. The critically acclaimed DVD was filmed in high-def and released worldwide in December 2004 with sales of double-platinum (over 200,000 units) in the United States alone.

By 2005, Tommy along with KISS, headlined a massive outdoor concert at Camp Pendleton, CA dedicated to the US Marines and US Military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fall that year, Tommy was elected to the Board of Trustees of Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, very near to where he grew up. And in May 2006, KISS and Tommy were honorees at VH1's Rock Honors Awards concert, a once-in-a-lifetime event at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas that honored the 30 year-plus legendary career of KISS. A month later, KISS jetted to Japan for another successful tour of the Land of the Rising Sun in summer 2006.

Tommy Thayer 2007

Through 2006 and 2007, Tommy has continued his interest in helping inspire young kids with a commitment to support school programs, particularly in music. He arranged for new musical instruments to be donated to jump-start ailing school band programs in Oregon, and appeared at several middle and high schools speaking to students with hopes that they will follow their dreams and accomplish all that they aspire to do. In March 2007, Tommy along with Gene Simmons again visited the Marines of Camp Pendleton, as well as members of the US Army, Navy and Air Force, to honor their brave commitment to our country with a rally and live performance featuring a medley of the armed forces anthems. In summer 2007, Tommy's passion for golf inspired the now annual Pacific University Legends Golf Classic, hosted by Tommy Thayer, where he along with several PGA pros and other celebrity friends will raise money for Pacific University's athletics program in Oregon.