The manager of KISS has confirmed the group are in talks to launch a TV talent show to find replacements for frontman Paul Stanley and guitarist Gene Simmons – when the duo eventually retire.
It has long been rumored that founding members Stanley and Simmons hope to keep the band running when they decide to quit – but both men have been evasive when asked about whether any new members have been signed up and if the takeover will happen after their current world tour.
The rock veterans are the only original members left in the band, which was marred by the departure of Ace Frehely and Peter Criss and the death of Eric Carr in 1991 – the group now includes replacements Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.
However their longtime manager Doc McGhee insists that there are indeed plans to replace all four band members and keep KISS alive for a new generation – they are close to signing a deal to find their replacements through an American Idol-style TV show.
McGhee says in a new TV documentary about the band, “I believe that KISS can go on forever. I believe that there is a way – and we are talking to people and we’re pretty close to getting it done – about finding the four new members of KISS.”
As our own Eddie Trunk reports in his Trunk Report, despite the fact that this article is dated 2008, Eddie writes, “the plan and closer than ever to happening…maybe two years away from launching.”
source: starpulse.com
192 Responses
Ha ha ha ha! What a freaking joke!! Seriously laughing my ass off! And certain people say kiss is not stuck in the past replacing gene and Paul with two guys dressing up in make up from 77 playing old songs but you tell Ed he’s stuck in the past. Still laughing my ass off ha ha ha kiss the joke!
I made a New Year’s resolution to stop belittling the mentally challenged. Ergo, I will not comment on your silly post, Bulakites.
I am surprised they are not considering the hologram approach – i.e. like the Tupac Shakur hologram that was pushed out on the public a year or so ago. Doing so would mean you wouldn’t have to pay musicians which equals more money into their lined pockets. The hologram is a better representation of a live stand-in anyways….they could still make all the lights/explosions/stage setup live to go along with the holograms if they wanted.
Or maybe this is on the docket and not yet announced. Either way, the franchise concept is alive and there are other bands preparing this approach as well. It would appear to me Foreigner is preparing as such on their current tour.
Once the technology has been created, I think there will actually be “concerts”/experiences of former (and even dead) greats – musicians, bands, actors – according to scans that can be made, like “digital molds”, from the originals or from old footage. Maybe we will attend this concert at home and develop back to a life form with no m ore use for having legs … The next step into cyber reality that could bring back the original four.but this will, of course, then trigger lost of discussions about whether one should spend money on a hologram that cleary only “uses” the personas of the originals and is only a tribute hologram/band …
So wrong. This is all about money. Sad
Didn’t see this story coming from a mile away……Joe in The Cuse
Interesting to see who else follows suit, ala Lynyrd Skynyrd. They only have two original members also.
Just one, only Rossington.