IN HIS UPCOMING AUTOBIOGRAPHY, KISS FRONTMAN PAUL STANLEY REVEALS THAT HE FELT AS IF BANDMATE GENE SIMMONS WAS A “TRAITOR” AND THAT FORMER MEMBERS ACE FREHLEY AND PETER CRISS ARE ANTI-SEMITIC
Larry Getlen of New York Post reports:
When Paul Stanley, frontman and rhythm guitarist for the band KISS, married in November 2005, he shared his joy with friends and family, including bandmates Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.
Notably absent from the ceremony: Stanley’s longtime musical partner, KISS bassist Gene Simmons. He wasn’t invited.
“Your views on marriage are your own,” Stanley told Simmons, who publicly denounced the concept of marriage until his own nups in 2011. “But when you insult and demean people who get married and ridicule or dismiss the idea of marriage, you have no place at a wedding.”
The incident is replayed in Stanley’s memoir, Face the Music: A Life Exposed, written with journalist Tim Mohr and out Tuesday.
As success came [to the band], Stanley noticed in interviews that Simmons “sure used the word ‘I’ a lot.” Stanley accuses him of abandoning the band in the early ’80s, distracted by attempts to become an actor, but then taking credit for Stanley’s work; and also of using the KISS logo and persona for personal projects without contractual permission.
During this time, Stanley writes, Simmons’ duplicity left him feeling there was “a traitor in the midst.”
As harsh as Stanley is with Simmons, he saves his real venom for former band mates Frehley and Criss. After it was announced back in December that KISS will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Barclays Center on Thursday, a public war erupted over which band members would play at the upcoming ceremony.
Frehley, Criss and the Hall wanted a reunion of the original lineup in full makeup; Simmons and Stanley refused, since KISS now has two other long-standing members in drummer, singer and guitarist Thayer. As of now, all four original members will attend the ceremony, but there will be no performance of the band’s music.
Stanley’s book sheds greater light on why he wouldn’t want a full-on reunion, recalling countless past times that Frehley and Criss, who have both had substance-abuse issues, were belligerent and even unable to play.
Stanley also accuses Frehley of stashing drugs “in the bags or pockets of crew members — without their knowledge — so he wasn’t on the hook if they were found.”
Even more shocking are his accusations of anti-Semitism against the pair. Noting that Frehley owned a collection of Nazi memorabilia, and that some of his earliest experiences with Criss involved the drummer racially mocking waiters at Chinese restaurants, Stanley writes that Frehley and Criss resented him and Simmons for controlling the band’s creative output — which Stanley says occurred because Frehley and Criss’ songwriting contributions “just didn’t amount to much.”
Stanley reiterated to The Post that yes, he does believe that Frehley and Criss are anti-Semitic.
“Yes, I do,” he says. “It’s based on years and years of interactions. It’s not pulled out of thin air.” Frehley and Criss did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more at the New York.
source: nypost.com
This upcoming week is going to be a big week for KISS with the release of Paul’s book and the HoF.
I wonder if Paul wrote his book because of the things that Ace and Peter revealed in their books about him.
eddie you know ace and peter well, do you really think they are anti -semitic? that is a harsh accusation ,and could really damage somones reputation-
Let me sum this up. Paul stfu and play. Peter and ace both wanted the rehnion to be special. They wont make any money off this. There are no motives. At leasr gene is keeping relatively quiet. You are coming acrosd.like an ahole. Ill read your book, but I will borrow it from my library as I will never contribute one more cent to your bank account. Enjoy your embarrassing cover band. Fans are disgusted.
I don’t really think Ace or Peter ‘revealed’ anything about Gene or Paul- Peter hinted about Paul’s sexuality- so did Ace, but that was it.
They did have their beefs with the way they were treated but nothing that was shocking was revealed in either’s book.
We were all created by Gene Simmons.
Honestly I’m sick of the Stanley Simmons non stop crying now ENOUGH !!
Yeah, that makes sense. People who shed light on anti-semitism should stop “crying about it”??? My father was a Holocaust survivor. He was not Jewish, but Polish, and was sent to a concentration camp with his entire family in Poland. He lost 2 sisters in the camp.
I am very sorry to hear that, my grandmother was also Polish.
Dana from EddieTrunk.com 🙂
I’m sorry for your loss as well. I am Polish too and I’m about to have Haluski for dinner!
@ Truth – Anti-semitism is nothing to joke about, and as Dana and Frank said, I also offer my sincere condolences for what your father went through and his losses and the obvious scars it’s left on your family.
With all due respect, I’m not sure it’s fair to accuse that guy of saying anything other than he’s generally sick of Gene and Paul’s comments about Peter and Ace.
Just because Pauls says so does not mean it it’s all true or has to be interpreted in just one way! Before you buy it think about possible reasons Paul has or might have to put A and P in a yet even more sinister light. I for one can think of a few.
The best songs were written when Ace and Peter were in the band, that is a fact. Everything post Ace and Peter is below average, that is a fact!
LICK IT UP, ASYLUM and REVENGE all have well written songs. DESTROYER owes a lot to its producer.
That is an opinion. Every post on this board is an opinion.
Paul and Gene wrote most of the songs. They had to convince Ace to write songs and to sing. When someone uses drugs (as Ace admits) its easy to see the two guys who don’t use drugs as the bad guys. Ever see Intervention? The person doing drugs always thinks their family is out to get them instead of realizing they are their to help. They feel trapped! I will be the first to admit, ACE is my favorite, but I can still be objective. He never did respond to the Nazi uniform comments in his book and I was looking for that in hopes of understanding why he would do that. Gene, and now Paul have both written about it. An honest journalist would ask Ace about it and give him a chance to explain. Will always love Ace and Peter for what they contributed in the 70 and Ace’s band in the 80s, but still think the current lineup is excellent. Cant wait to read Paul’s book. One last thought–people say and do some horrible things in their lives. People are not static, they learn from their mistakes. If Ace did those things, I think he regrets it. Of course, he may not remember (because of the drugs).
A fact? You can prove a fact. Did you mean to say most popular? Based on record sales, that could be a fact…I dont know what Sonic Boom and Monster are up to as far as sales, but they went to number tow and three respectively. That’s pretty impressive considering that the majority of music consumers arent buying CDs anymore. I still buy CDs but I think I am one of a few thousand compared to the masses who pick and choose or download for free.
Really? SImmons and Stanley are the ones crying?? All I keep hearing is about poor Ace and poor Peter wanting yet another chance to hitch their wagon to the Kiss star.
Still think the two real victims here aren’t Ace and Peter, but Eric Carr and Bruce Kulick. They’re also the class acts of this whole extravaganza (well, Eric’s family).
Peter and Ace were part of the original wagon wheels that got KISS off the ground.
I don’t think either of them are looking at ‘hitching their wagons’ to anything at this point. They are not complaining or crying or whatever you call it. They both took the high road in this mess and they’re barely defending themselves over Paul’s new accusations.
So where have you heard Ace and Peter crying?? Go ahead and post some links.
They wanted to play together for the fans because they both realized how many fans wanted it and how important it was to the fans.
It is just the hardest thing being a KISS fan. All this stuff doesn’t cloud the great music they’ve given us, but god they just all hate each other so much. I love all of these guys but all of these articles make it hard for me to like any of them as people. These last few months have been really hard being a Kiss fan. Just take the award and leave. Its sickening to read all these horrible stuff about people you really like. This last year has almost single handidly ruined Kiss for me.
It does not cloud the great music. The music is always better than the sum of its parts.
Robert,
I feel your pain…It seems just recently Ace and Paul had met for lunch or something. They each know about each other’s books. It could be they are all playing it up for the press, but then again, its hard to say. I thought the only one not on good terms with everyone was Peter. Peter and Ace were closer to each other than anyone and now Peter’s book opened a huge can of worms–or did it? There seems to be more commotion over Paul’s book and its not even out yet. Hang in there–things will work out. They will all get over their issues and be friends again some day. I hope…
Gene & paul Have done kiss in for me its over no money from ME EVER again ,They have messed up kiss more then Ace & peter Ever did the truth hurts Paul & Gene as we can see
.. Cry baby Paul’s at it again ENOUGH !!
YOU’VE HAD ENOUGH ( INTO THE FIRE) .