During an appearance on March 1sts episode of SiriusXM‘s The Howard Stern Show, KISS frontman Paul Stanley once again expressed his frustration over the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame not inducting current members Eric Singer (drums) and Tommy Thayer (guitar) along with the original lineup when the band was welcomed into the institution back in 2014.
He said (via blabbermouth.net), “The hypocrisy is that we’re not a band they like. They purposely kept us out for 15 years. And other bands that they embrace, they induct people’s moms and songwriters and all these people. And with us, it truly was unfair.”
When asked by Stern why KISS didn’t perform at the Rock Hall induction, Stanley said, “Because we had too much pride in this lineup, which is KISS, and has been KISS for 20 years. It’s not newcomers. This is the band. We’ll be back in the stadiums of South America next month. We were there five months ago. We were in Japan. This is the band that has carried the flag and taken it, really, to another level. This is the band I always dreamed it would be, and for us to go onstage… They were demanding, quite honestly, that we play with the two original guys, Peter [Criss] and Ace [Frehley], and at this point, that would be demeaning to the band, and also would give some people confusion. ‘Cause if you saw people on stage who looked like KISS but sounded like that, maybe we should be called PISS.”
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons concurred, saying, “We’ve been all over the world, through decades, with this present lineup. It bears noting I’ve never seen a single banner or sign that mentions any other lineup. When Tommy takes a solo, ‘Tommy! Tommy!’ That’s me backstage going, ‘Tommy!’ When Eric takes a solo, ‘Eric! Eric!’ They’re pumping their fists. It’s legitimate. Nobody is in KISS and doing it by the numbers.”
KISS announce their final shows of their reported last tour on Stern’s show, which will be two back-to-back shows at Madison Square Garden in New York at the end of 2023.
The last portion of KISS’s 19-date North American tour will begin in October in Texas and culminate in the MSG concerts on December 1st and December 2nd.
Tickets will be available starting March 6th, with a KISS Army presale at 10 a.m. local time. Additional presales will be available throughout the week before the general on sale starting March 10th at 10 a.m. local time at livenation.com.
23 Responses
The bottom line is Gene and Paul put the brand before the band, and that was, is, and will ALWAYS be their biggest mistake they ever made!
Oh, Gene. Nobody in Kiss is doing it by the numbers? Pre recorded vocals for Paul. Same set list, over and over and over. The Hall Of Shame, the farce that it is, by way of Morello and Grohl, finally said oh ok we’ll induct them. Demanding that Kiss play with the originals only. When did Tommy and Robot Drummer become part of the phenomenon? The major, Beatlesque impact of the 70s? This is THE POINT. The thing that kills me is Gene and Paul know this, they just refuse to admit it past “without the original four…” Blah blah blah. Gene, Ace, Peter and Paul make headlines. Tommy and Robot Drummer do not.
Robot Drummer…F-ing’ funny. Lol
One last comment. Eric singer is a beast of a musician- he plays every intrument and has a great voice , he knows how to sing and find harmonies which is not easy to do, he is not in my opinion mimicking peter criss at all other than the mistake gene and paul made to make him ( wear Pete’s make up ) he completely reinvented the drumming of those great kiss songs while staying true to the original arrangements – Tommy Thayer is a very good guitarist now.. he is absolutely trying copy Ace including his stage mannerisms …its embarrassing and ridiculous
Thayer had no real chance to be his own man So we’re never going to know how good he really is what his own guitar style is , he is just doing a job he was hired to do …be a clean, sober, focused and drama free Ace frehley impersonator~
on a side note , id like to congratulate journey for ending kiss’ 20 yr reign as the worlds most disfunctional band.