In speaking with with KNPR News, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was asked why he declined to perform with fellow original KISS members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley at the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in April. His answer has been transcribed by blabbermouth.net and can be read below.
Stanley said, It’s a tough question to answer, but there’s so much involved in it. Firstly, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame wanted nothing to do with us; they begrudgingly let us in. And my sense was that we were going to be a dog-and-pony show. They wanted to have the original guys play in the band, and all of us in makeup, and, quite honestly, I think it would have done the band a disservice. That lineup has not been together for 14 years, and physically, perhaps, wouldn’t have looked that great, and musically, undoubtedly, probably, would have sounded a bit suspect. So, to have people watch it on television and identify that as KISS because there’s four guys in makeup would not send a great signal to the people who are not following the band in its current permutation, or what it is today.”
He continued, “Look, we just did 42 shows and played to 600,000 people in America, and I would hate for those people to turn on a TV show where we were an unwanted guest in the first place and see us strong-armed into doing something that really does a disservice to something that I worked at for 40 years. I never quit the band twice, once, and to dilute what I’ve worked on all these years just to make a committee happy that really was not all that thrilled that we were there in the first place, it sent the wrong message and it endangered something that I hold very dear to me.”
KISS begins their three week Las Vegas residency, Kiss Rocks Vegas, at The Joint inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino today (November 5th).
additional source: blabbermouth.net
204 Responses
Actually I congratulate Ace and Peter for not being part of the apparent decline and ridiculous attempts at hushing it all up that are going on at the moment, their Kiss days will stay in our minds as the most successful and fun years.
Paul’s voice is far from being shot and Thayer can out play Ace with ease. The show got rave reviews not some reviews from Ace die-hards. You want to see crap reviews, wait til the Ace train wreck comes on the road. Is it true Scott Ian sold 473 books?
Thayer CAN NOT out play Ace, He IS playing Ace’s riffs….Ace has been sober for years now, gained a little weight but can still sing and play great…..
Lee, now that you are so fond of Paul and experienced in bashing the Ace and Peter camp, maybe you should apply for the fine job of being Paul’s adjutant, bringing him tea to soothe his voice issues, telling him he is still in his prime 100 times a day – or more if necessary -, collecting the pieces of the shredded guitars and glueing them together for tomorrow’s show (no money wasted here!), echoeing his self-serving remarks to make him feel he is the number one rockstar in the world, at least in Kiss, brushing his all-day wig, then combing his stage wig, singing the high notes of his choruses from behind the stage, etc. – wouldn’t that be nice? The nice thing would be, you would post no more silly remarks here. Maybe Thayer can give you a tip or two, he knows how to work your way up in the Kiss hierarchy.
Paul said during the Farewell Tour a famous musician came up to him backstage and said I just can’t come to the concerts anymore they are that bad.
Wonder what they are saying now with RuPaul’s vocals in the crapper. He sounds like deepthroat. maybe all of the rumors are true.
Paul sould use a ghost vocalist, just like gene uses a ghost bass player, I was thinking paul should use auto tune but I don’t think auto tune could keep up paul would have it smoking and short circuiting
Autotune is a ncec idea, but even autotune cannot better the voice itself, it can only correct the pitch, so I guess Paul will have to “tune” himself, which means he should just stop singing.
Is Ace Frehley that fat guy with the beard who was like an alcoholic for years after Kiss? I love Paul Stanley he can still sing.
LOL…that you think Paul Stanley can still sing. He was once a great singer, but now gives cringeworthy performances that do a disservice to the band and make Kiss’s music “suspect” at best. He’s sending a signal to the world that the current permutation of Kiss is about the quantity of money they can make and not about the quality of music that they play.
In regards to your question about who Ace Frehley is, he’s the original lead guitarist for Kiss and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who created the “Spaceman” character with it’s signature makeup and moves that are impersonated by Tommy Thayer and others throughout the world today.
Do you feel better now?
Dream your little dream …