Thomas Cunningham "Tommy" Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist The Spaceman, for the American hard rock band Kiss, as well as the former lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue.
Thomas Cunningham Thayer was born on November 7, 1960, in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Beaverton, Oregon. His mother Patricia Thayer (née Cunningham) was a classically trained violinist and singer, and father James Thayer was a businessman, community leader and retired Brigadier General in the US Army.
Early on, Thayer was raised in a musical family with three brothers and a sister amidst sounds that ranged from classical to The Beatles and other classic 1960s pop music. Thayer's passion for early 1970s hard rock bands drove his desire to pick up electric guitar at age 13. After graduating from Sunset High School in 1978, Thayer played in many local garage and club bands, eventually forming his own group with singer Jaime St. James, which eventually took the name Black 'n Blue.
Formed in November 1981, Black 'n Blue played gigs in the Portland area for over a year before making a move to Southern California in early 1983. Black 'n Blue had immediate success as a top draw in Hollywood's rock clubs, and within six months signed a major worldwide recording contract with Geffen Records.
The band traveled to Germany in early 1984 to work with Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks, releasing Black 'n Blue in August 1984, featuring the songs "Hold on to 18" and "School of Hard Knocks," both co-written by Thayer and St. James. The follow-up Bruce Fairbairn-produced album, Without Love was released in 1985 with Thayer, St. James and Jim Vallance co-writing the single "Miss Mystery." After touring for two months as opening act for Kiss in fall 1985, Black 'n Blue hired Kiss bassist Gene Simmons to produce the band's next studio album Nasty Nasty, released in 1986 and In Heat in 1988. Geffen subsequently dropped the band in late 1988.
Although no longer a permanent member of the band, Thayer has performed periodically with the other original members of Black 'n Blue for several one-off reunion and benefit concerts. In October 2010, the band was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in Portland, with all five members of the classic lineup (including Thayer) attending.
In 1989, Thayer co-wrote songs with Gene Simmons and played session guitar on song demos for Kiss' 1989 release, Hot in the Shade, which includes the Simmons and Thayer songs, "Betrayed". and "The Street Giveth, The Street Taketh Away." That same year, Thayer recorded guitar tracks for singer-songwriter Teresa Straley and producer Pat Regan's record deal with Reprise Records.
In 1994 Kiss' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hired Thayer to work part-time on their forthcoming book Kisstory, which led to other projects and eventually a full-time role with Kiss. Thayer's work for Stanley & Simmons began by performing such tasks as painting Stanley's house and cleaning out Simmons' gutters.
Thayer managed the 1995 Worldwide Kiss Convention tour and the Kiss MTV Unplugged concert. In preparation for 1996's Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour, Thayer worked with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, to help them relearn their original guitar and drum parts from the 1970s. Thayer worked as producer and editor of Kiss' long form video and film releases including: Kiss, The Second Coming in 1998, New Line Cinema’s feature Detroit Rock City in 1998, and Showtime Television's pay-per-view, The Last Kiss in 2000.
By 2002 and with the growing uncertainty of Ace Frehley's involvement in the band, Thayer stood by for a Kiss performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Salt Lake City to fill-in on lead guitar if necessary. One month later Thayer got the call and donned the Spaceman makeup for the first time, filling in and performing onstage with Kiss at a private concert in Trelawny, Jamaica. Several TV appearances followed in 2002 including ABC's Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Show and That 70s Show on Fox.
Thayer became the lead guitarist for Kiss in 2002, performing on stage with Kiss for the first time at a private concert in Trelawny, Jamaica. In 2003 Thayer with 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. In 2004 Thayer produced the RIAA double-platinum selling DVD set, Rock the Nation Live!, released worldwide in December 2004.
Source: wikipedia
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