When Lightning Strikes
by Kiss

Album: Sonic Boom (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This cool mid-tempo tune marks lead guitarist Tommy Thayer's Kiss vocal debut. Thayer originally played Ace Frehley in a Kiss tribute band called Cold Gin, who once played at Kiss rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley's birthday party. Co-founder Gene Simmons then offered Thayer a job as his assistant and when Ace Frehley left Kiss in 2002, Thayer was the band's choice to replace him.

Comments: 1

  • Mike from Greenville, ScGene Simmons's relationship with Thayer goes back to the mid 80's when he produced a couple of the Black n Blue albums. Thayer was lead guitarist.
    The lead singer for Black n Blue, Jamie St. James was also in Cold Gin.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Eric Clapton

Eric ClaptonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.