Greg Prato for ultimate-guitar.com reports:
Ever since KISS announced they would be retiring at the conclusion of their End of the Road Tour (their final show will take place on December 2nd, 2023 at Madison Square Garden), there has been chatter concerning if the band could carry on without the last remaining original members – Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley – in the line-up…
Author/KISS expert Martin Popoff, recently stated on the Booked on Rock Podcast, “I don’t want them to replace all four of them at once. But I would like to see Gene retire, set off by Paul retiring, and then Tommy [Thayer]…although Tommy’s not that young a guy, right? But I would like to see Tommy stay for much longer and Eric [Singer] stay for much longer, and then the replacements have to be really, really key, proper replacements.”
Also rather than Gene or Paul picking their replacements, Popoff offered alternate potential decision-makers. “I almost think they should go to the deep, serious fans – the fans that are 40 and 50 and 60 years old – and ask them who they think should replace them.”
However, Popoff does not want to see four no-names comprise a KISS 2.0 line-up. “I want to see guys almost as famous and as successful as KISS – but guys who are between the ages of 50 and 60. So, legends. I want to see two legends in there. So those guys last for another five or six or seven years, and then they’re gone and at that point they hopefully made some records.”
When the show’s host, Eric Senich, suggested that Gene’s son, Nick [Simmons], would be a possible pick to reprise his father’s role as the Demon, Popoff seemed receptive to the idea. “That’s the other way of doing it. Like, you got your Jason Bonham and your John Bonham, you got your Johnny Van Zant and your Ronnie Van Zant, right? Wolfgang [Van Halen] is kind of a decent idea…I was thinking Wolfgang in Van Halen. That’s a super valid thing, but even Wolfgang in KISS would make sense.”
Popoff also suggested another band that could be in the running to provide a member to don the greasepaint and platform heels. “I could see a Metallica member in KISS maybe, or something. So, I want someone who’s got some gravitas and some weight to them.”
Lastly, as Popoff hinted earlier, he would also want to see a KISS 2.0 band, not just stop at playing concerts. “I want to see that new band make records. So, that’s how you become valid, I think, in trying to do this replacement thing.”
11 Responses
If they replace Paul, will he be lip synching. As a matter of fact, they might all be with pre recorded vocals of Gene & Paul.
I just read again gene reached out to ace and pete to play the last shows and they said no… this disaster lands at the feet of Paul stanley , & gene simmons… gene had the balls to characterize hard-core fans as the old fans as in age ..he called us old old and that some of u remember and want to see ace and pete , and the new fans don’t know… WTF is wrong with him… still trying to diminish ace and pete , I saw this yesterday online ,at this point I really don’t care what they do – paul and gene destroyed an amazing history , they made alot of money while losing the respect of thousands of fans who gave them a career – paul was wrong with him and simmons the band should be called PISS ~
This is just utter nonsense! Who is this Martin guy and what makes him an “expert?”