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 only reason they like Singer and Thayer so much, is because, they do what they do to get paid..copy Peter and Ace. My last Kiss show was their farewell tour that ended (supposedly).
He said that if they played with Peter and Ace at The rrhof induction they be called Pi⚡️⚡️ I think they should be called, “You wanted a copy, you got a copy, the most lamest band in the land PI⚡️⚡️.” That’s what you’re gonna do with your money Pi⚡️⚡️it away.
I’m a Kiss fan, I loved all versions of this band, save the last, and I agree, Carr and Kulick, deserve to be in before the copies.
I enjoyed Howard’s interview and learned a lot about Gene & Paul and a little about Thayer and his father. That was cool.
Foolish that Gene & Paul deride and disregard the origin of their phenomenal success. Peter & Criss are prettygreat guys, not sure why the other two view themselves as so high & mighty. Fubar.
Look, I get it; this is Eddie’s site, and he’s friends with Peter and Ace so we have to maintain the illusion that the original band is something special, but the FACT remains that Paul and Gene are correct. I’ve seen the original band and I’ve seen the current band. With the exception of the first MSG run after the reunion (what was that, 1996? Over 25 years ago?) which was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, the current lineup musically blows the original out of the water at this time. The last show I saw with Peter – the Aerosmith tour – was pathetic. Peter with his stupid “tear” painted on his face; it was the first time (and only time with Kiss) that I ever thought to myself “he’s not playing this; there’s a drummer backstage doing the work”. I saw Ace a couple months ago in a 700 seat club where there was barely 400 people. Ace could barely sing; two lines into “Deuce”, he pointed at the bass player (who was excellent, by the way) to take over.
Frankly, I don’t blame Paul and Gene for wanting a higher level of investment in their band. The other two bailed. I wish things were like when I was a kid, getting into the band with a sense of wonder, but that’s not how the world works. Not everyone can do this level of effort into their ’70s and we have to accept that. Bill Ward can’t do it, and neither can Peter or Ace. Honestly, the bigger affront from the Rock and Roll Hall was leaving ERIC CARR and BRUCE KULICK out. They deserves to be there every bit as much as anyone else. The Grateful Dead’s lyricist (Robert Hunter) and backup singer (Donna Godchaux) are in, as are EVERY MEMBER that’s ever been in Bruce Springsteen’s band; you can’t put in the drummer that saved the band and was the third-longest serving member beyond Gene and Paul? Please.
Everything Stadler wrote here is objectively correct.
While I agree that both Peter and Ace are a shadow of their former selves I do find it interesting that you conveniently omit Paul from any criticism. He sounds like hot garbage and should have quit years ago.
I have seen clips of Paul and its a complete embarrassment that he would go out and give that kind of performance.
The only place Paul’s vocal performances belong is on blooper clips of American Idol. That’s about his quality at this point.
Your name is hysterical.
Well stated and valid points made. I was not an early fan of KISS growing up in the early 70’s. I did like the Bruce & Eric days cause that’s what I knew. Loved Ace in his solo days of the 80’s. I do think Eric on drums bring something to the band, that Peter didn’t.
Stadler, in general, I concur with your comments. But over the last twenty plus years, Tommy and Eric brought no originality to the band as impersonators. None! The band exists today essentially as a nostalgia act to what was originally created by the original four members. Tommy and Eric have helped prolong the nostalgia act by impersonating the original Spaceman and Catman. As a huge fan of the original KI$$, I hate it. Despite the impressive talents of both Tommy and Eric, as long as they impersonate the Spaceman and Catman characters, I will never attend another KI$$ show. I wish the band would go away cuz I think they are embarrassing their legacy as the once self proclaimed “Hottest Band in the World”.
I’m glad both Tommy and Eric were not part of the RRHOF induction. Perhaps if Gene and Paul allowed both Tommy and Eric to create their own characters, they’d be inducted and I’d be happy for them. But being inducted for portraying characters originally created by others for over twenty years? No way.
My point was exactly what you said , gratefull dead everyone gets in springsteen everyone in..this is the H.O.F m.o. and history , if they like you..and deem you culturally and musically worthy they do what they want and make up their own rules, so using that as a benchmark everyone from kiss should be in …. I could nit pick and say everyone but Tommy Thayer and Mark st john but I won’t…. look vincent really did help bring kiss back to life in the 80s so did Eric , and Bruce took over into the 90s .. Eric singer is a hall of fame drummer the guy can do it all and should be in on musical ability alone, my biggest problem with gene and paul is they seem to have lost the ability to be honest they minimize, deflect, even when caught in their own lie , past interviews they try and spin , being caught lip syncing then outed by their own Mgr. And essentially saying kiss fans shouldn’t be robbed of the best experience to gloss over the fakery …that just means they think kiss fans are idiots or they just don’t care , they are operating exactly like the hall of shame
And I’m sad about it , this was once a great band that stood for something influenced so many of today’s best musicians , they revolutionized modern stage production and proved you could live your dream , now you have 70 plus yr old men in make up and wigs lipsyncing …….
Had Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons done the work and been imaginative creating two NEW characters for Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer (with their input as well) instead of them copying Ace and Peter’s characters they not only would’ve been their own characters but would’ve stood out to the Rock Hall enough to have been included in the induction performance along with Peter and Ace WHO WOULD’VE HAD TO BE ALLOWED TO PERFORM AS WELL. The new character approach would’ve also added to the legacy of KISS. By having Eric and Tommy take over Ace’s Spaceman and Peter’s Catman, they permanently damaged the legacy and brand. Also it diminished the contribution of Eric and Tommy mashing them virtually interchangeable and not important as individual musicians. So stupid on so many levels.