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.
33 Responses
Dana
How about “You make me Rock Hard baby all night.Love’s like a glove and you make me feel alright” ? Sounds like 80s PISS were gifted poets. And everybody thought they lacked talent
Jeff,
You win the “You made me laugh so much” award, THANK YOU!!! OMG, your comment was dripping with comedic brillance, and sarcasm, which I am fluent in, love it!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Love’s like a glove and it fits just right are the correct lyrics
Doug R,
THANK YOU! Whew! I hope Paul Stanley doesn’t read my incorrect lyric. I’m sure he takes his POETRY very seriously. I want to get this right verbatim to recite to my future romantic endevours.
Gene gene the magical fruit the more you speak the more you toot…
LOL!!!
I hate that this forum is mocking my songwriting skills.
Don’t you know I am the Shakespear of Rock?
As you may recall, I am the author of such lines as:
“Oh babe I want to put my log in your fireplace”
Such poetry I am sure you would agree.
Now for a limited time only – I Gene Simmons will provide you with a day of my song writing skills for the reasonable price of $15,000 / day. (I charged Ace more).
If you act in the next 12 hours we can combine being my assistant and songwriting sessions for $18,000/day.
OMG-LOL!!!! What song is that??
That would be “Burn Bitch Burn” from Animalize, the lyrics are tongue in cheek, as are many, many other songs as well! Too many to mention, just pay attention to some of AC⚡️DC’s lyrics! Lol
Hi Doug R.,
I completely understand, that it is Simmons‘ attempt, at being clever, funny, and no pun intended, tongue-in-cheek, but in my humble opinion, it fails miserably and only succeeds at being cheesy and eye rolling. Ditto for Stanley‘s ri-dick-ulous prose.
AC/DC, is not a effective means of comparison, because again, in my humble opinion, Scott was a genius, when it came to lyrics. He understood, how to successfully accomplish comedic irony, without being overly silly and sophomoric, which is a gift. Yes, I am aware, that to some, Big Balls, could negate that sentiment, but I am referring to Scott as a writer, over an entire body of work, not a specific song.
Sometimes, frat boy lyrics can be amusing, if done correctly, however, if completed poorly, it can become a source of mockery, as opposed to one of amusement and appreciation.
Personally, I was never a lyrics snob, as evidenced by many of the bands that I love, and appreciate, but when one happens to have a gift for it, such as Scott, and Bob Daisley, it is certainly noticeable.
Hi Dana, I would agree with that assessment, however when it comes to creative songwriting, in my opinion every songwriter has highs and lows, I think sometimes they get writers block and out of frustration they’ll write anything as long as it rhymes! Lol! I remember in an interview a while ago that Angus said all we try to do is make the song rhyme whether it makes sense or not! Lol
LOL!
(Gene’s Raccoon Wig is cut off as suddenly the song Love Gun powers up through the sound system as REAL PAUL STANLEY flies over the crowd to the mini stage in the middle of the arena)
Woooooowwwwwwooowwwlllllll GENE’S RACCOON WIG LET ME HEAR YA!!!!!!!!!! Ya know something Gene, it’s interesting, I said it’s interesting that two of the greatest songwriters of all time somehow came together back in 1972 as WICKED LESTA lemme hear ya!!! Alright, alright then. Gene has been writing about putting his johnson in any hole he can since the debut KISS album woooowwww!! And I do mean ANY hole!!! Ever wunda, I said did you eva wunda what he was talkin’ bout in the song Let Me Know when he brings up the BACK DOOR?!?!!! Girls, make some noise!!!!!!! Are ya havin’ a good time?!?!! Ya know, I said ya know ewwww ohhh, all this talk about back doors and fireplaces gets me hot!!! It makes me wanna put the X in sex with all you beautiful women out there whooooooaaaa!!! That’s right!!! This reminds me of a time back in 1976 on the Rock & Roll Ova tour! I was backstage, I said I was backstage mindin’ my own business when suddenly this woman with the biggest fun bags I’ve eva seen comes up to me. She’s pushing’ a baby in a strolla! She looks at me and says Paul? I said yeah baby. She said I’m lookin’ for Gene owwwwww!!!! I said hunny, Gene’s currently putting a log in the fireplace! She said Paul? I said yeah baby. She said, Paul, he is the father of my son. I said hunny, not only is Gene not the father of your son, he’s neva seen you before in his life! Lemme tell ya something, that baby looked up at me and had the longest mother fuckin’ tongue I’ve ever seen in my life!!!!! Alright, are you ready to rock n rollllllll?!?!? Whoooooo!!! This next one! I said this next one comes off the album Creatures Of The Night! This one’s called Exciter!!! Ah 1-2-3-4!!!
Dana –
The song is “Burn B@tch Burn”
Gene’s attempt at a love song lol
I so love your sarcasm, it is my native tongue. LOL!!!