KISS’ GENE SIMMONS SAYS HE FEELS “SAD” THAT ORIGINAL BANDMEMBERS, ACE FREHLEY AND PETER CRISS, “CAN’T ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR”

During a recent appearance on producer Rick Rubin‘s Tetragrammaton podcast, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons reflected on the band’s final performance, which took place on December 2nd, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Simmons recounted, (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “We took a look at this idea of we were born in New York City, 10 East 23rd Street, 10 blocks down — 10 — from 33rd Street, Madison Square Garden. So we decided, ‘Let’s finish off Christmas’ or Kissmass, ’50 years after the birth of the band 10 blocks down. Let’s do it at New York and only do one show and film it and all that stuff, and invite our friends. It’ll be like a celebration.’ And then the film crew and everybody in [our management] convinced us to do two shows. We could have been there for a week or 10 days… So we did December 1st, December 2nd in New York…”

When asked ifhe felt any differently on stage, knowing it was the last band’s concert, he said, “Very emotional. Pride, but also a little sad because… People who have been married, I’m guessing, a few times, but remember when it was real love and that magic of the thing, if it doesn’t last, there’s a sadness there. Sometimes, it’s drugs and alcohol, sometimes, they just go apart. But when it was great, it’s sad because not everybody survives life. And I’m still sad about [original KISS guitarist] Ace [Frehley] and [original KISS drummer] Peter [Criss], who even today can’t enjoy the fruits of their labor. They were equally as important as [KISS vocalist] Paul [Stanley] and myself in the formation of the band and those first few years — there’s no question about it. It was a four-wheel-drive vehicle. And then the air started coming out of two of the wheels to the point where — as a matter of fact, when it was time for Peter to go, Ace voted, ‘No, he’s gotta go. He can’t play the drums anymore.’ And then Ace, using his words, walked out of KISS. Even though we said, ‘You can stay in KISS. Have a solo career. We don’t want a penny of it. Have your cake and eat it too.’ And he said to my face, ‘No, I can’t stay in the band. He said it in print, ‘If I do another tour, I’m gonna kill myself.’ That’s verbatim. And I didn’t understand what that meant. I didn’t wanna get into it. And then he said, ‘You watch. I’m gonna sell 10 million records.’ I can’t respond to that. I don’t know what that meant. Logically — stay in the band, have your cake and eat it too.”

In recent Simmons news, the bassist has postponed 17 dates from his solo tour, and defended charging $12, 000 for a fan experience, to be his personal assistant.