Marty Friedman was ready to rock all night long with KISS, but his dream was quickly dashed.

In a 2019 interview with Sam Ash Music that’s enjoying a second life on the internet, the former Megadeth guitarist recalled a time when he was asked to join KISS – but was ultimately told he wasn’t big enough to perform in the legendary rock band.

“When they changed guitarists a long time ago, I got a call from someone from KISS,” said Friedman, 61, who played with Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. “They said, ‘Would you be interested in auditioning for KISS?’ And I said, ‘Tell me when and where.'”

Next, the KISS team had a few more questions. He recalled: “‘You don’t have a beard, do you?’ No. ‘You have long hair, right?’ Right. ‘You’re skinny, aren’t you?’ Right. ‘And you’re over six feet tall?’ and I was like, ‘What? I’m about five feet tall, but I’m going to have surgery, I’m going to do something.'”

“They said, ‘I’m sorry, this isn’t going to work.’ I was so disappointed,” Friedman said.

He added: “I understand that completely, but I would have done anything. If surgery had been possible at that time, I would have done it.”

It’s unclear exactly when the meeting took place, but the band’s newest guitarist is Tommy Thayer, who joined KISS in 2002 – about two years after Friedman left Megadeth.

KISS’s Gene Simmons recently expressed his own thoughts on the band’s austere image, telling PEOPLE in April that the group might not have retired so recently if their signature look were different.

“It’s not like a Sunday stroll, it’s not the same. In hindsight, we would have been smarter if we’d put on T-shirts and sneakers and gone out Ramone-style and just strummed the guitar,” he joked at the time.