The Spaceman
Thayer became the lead guitarist for Kiss on February 28, 2003. In his debut concert, Kiss joined forces with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (all in Kiss makeup) for a concert at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne Australia. Recorded and filmed in front of 40,000 fans, a pay-per-view, Kiss Symphony: Alive IV CD and DVD were released worldwide later in the year. A Kiss Japanese tour in March 2003 was a forerunner to the KISS-Aerosmith World Domination tour that kicked off in summer 2003, setting sales records as one of Pollstar Magazine’s top grossing tours of the year. Kiss was on the road again in May 2004 with the Rock the Nation Tour. Thayer produced the RIAA double-platinum selling DVD set, Rock the Nation Live!, released worldwide in December 2004.
Kiss kicked off their Alive 35 tour in Melbourne, Australia in March 2008 to a huge crowd of 60,000 fans celebrating the 35-year history of the band. Hailed as the “Spectacular of the Year,” the sold-out tour ran through Australasia, Europe, South America and North America in 2009, cumulating 100 concerts in 29 countries, to 1.5 million Kiss fans. Making an appearance on the 2009 season finale of American Idol, Thayer and Kiss were joined onstage by Idol contestant Adam Lambert for a Kiss set seen by 30 million TV viewers.
Sonic Boom, the first KISS studio album in 11 years was released worldwide in October 2009, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine album chart. Thayer co-wrote three songs on the record, including his own lead vocal debut on “When Lightning Strikes.”
A brand new Kiss and Dr. Pepper TV ad debuted during the 2010 Super Bowl to an estimated 100 million TV viewers. Promotions leading up to the debut included Thayer & Kiss ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in January 2010 in full Kiss regalia.
Kiss embarked on the highly anticipated Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour in Sheffield, England on May 1, 2010, playing 35 shows in stadiums and arenas throughout Europe through June. Kiss appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in July, kicking off Kiss's 60-date The Hottest Show on Earth Tour of North America culminating in July 2011.
Kiss began "The Tour," featuring Kiss and Mötley Crüe as co-headliners on July 20, 2012 in Bristow, Virginia.
Kiss's new studio album Monster, was released in October 2012.
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