Ethan Sacks of the New York Daily News reports:
KISS may not have performed together on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, but they managed to put their ugly feud behind them long enough to accept their statuettes Thursday night.
The four original members of the band who had been trading barbs ever since news of their induction broke — Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on one side and their ex-bandmates, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, on the other — took the high road to the stage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, trading conciliatory speeches that honored each other’s history with the band.
“This is a profound moment of all of us. We are humbled that the fans ever gave us the chance to do what we love doing,” Simmons told the audience after a rousing induction speech from Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
“To Ace Frehley, whose iconic guitar playing has been imitated but never equaled … to Peter Criss … there’s not a guy who beats the sticks who sounds just like Peter,” he continued. “Something happened 40 years ago, I met the partner and brother I never knew I had: Paul Stanley. You couldn’t ask for somebody more awesome to work with.”
Simmons then skirted dangerous territory — name-checking all of Frehley and Criss’s successors who were not named to the Rock Hall, but rebounded with one last olive branch.
“We wouldn’t be here today without the original fantastic four,” he concluded.
Criss then took the microphone, thanking everyone who’s ever worked with the band and discussed how he’s been been seven-years healthy after a battle with male breast cancer. He took the evening’s only shot at the drama surrounding Kiss, referencing Eric Singer’s use of Criss’ famous cat makeup. “I want to say, in or out of makeup, I’ll always be the Catman, so it really doesn’t matter. I also want to say, you gotta forgive to live. It’s really important.”
Frehley cut the tension by admitting that he couldn’t read his speech because his sunglasses weren’t prescription, before discussing his seven years of sobriety and how the country needs more education about substance abuse.
Finally, Stanley wrapped it up, saying, “For us, this is a special night but it’s really a special night for our fans because this is vindication. Peter, Ace, Gene, we are the original foursome. We couldn’t have done this if we hadn’t started together. Everything we’ve done is built on the past. We’ve got a great, great legacy.” Then he took a dig at the Hall, and all the critics who’ve denounced them and voted against them. “The people pay for tickets, the people buy albums, the people who nominate [Hall inductees] do not.”
Frehley told the Daily News back stage that he was disappointed that a compromise couldn’t be reached.
“It wasn’t my choice,” he said of not getting the chance to perform. “I wanted to do it. But the bottom line is we’re still brothers in rock ‘n’ roll. And even though we don’t see each other for five, 10, 15 years, it’s just like yesterday.”
Read more at the New York Daily News.
source: nydailynews.com and billboard.com
109 Responses
I hope Eddie picked up on this. Peter’s speech was the cleverest as he consciously yet subconsciously imbeds the fact that there is only one KISS. Peter addresses , ” I’d like to congratulate the band, of course—Mr. Stanley, Mr. Simmons, and THE ONE & ONLY SPACE-MAN, Ace Frehley. He continues … I want to say that, in or out of makeup, I’ll always be THE CATMAN.” On that note I hope Paul after professing,the fans buy the records, the tickets, it’s the fans who should have the finale say. Paul you heard the fans ” boooo ” when he mentioned Tommy & Eric’s name . The fans have spoken Paul WAKE-UP !!! You dont have to play w/ Ace & Peter anymore so quit bashing them ! To anyone who think the audience was saying ” bruce ” and not booing are simply in denial. It was a big BOO !
There was no booing when Gene mentioned them ,there was also no booing when Tom mentioned them. there was booing when Pete made his catman remark. I guess you missed that,or it just doesn’t jive with the way you think ?. That booing was also out of place at last night’s event.
The booing during Peter’s speech was the guy who was recording the video. The crowd cheered when he made those comments, there is a better video up that clearly shows this. Singer And Thayer got booed in Brooklyn, NY.. LIVE WITH IT.
Agreed. They didn’t get booed the first time because Gene mentioned Eric C, Vinnie, and Mark.
just shut your trap Todd!
Lol your on drugs, it’s one guy ( sounds like the camera guy ) booing when Peter says that. Clean your ears buddy !
The person who made the video of their speech booed Peter and was clearly a fan of the current lineup.
It was clear the fans that night cared about the originals.
of course the fans there that night only cared about the originals…because that was the lineup being inducted! You can all thump your chests acting as if you were somehow proven right, the fact is if you were right, KISS couldn’t tour anymore because nobody would go…so your wrong, the original lineup matters to some but not most, just accept it and go sit in the corner and listen to the 70’s as life and KISS passes you by.
Yeah, you keep believing that BS. “The original lineup matters to some, but not most” ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THAT DELUSIONAL POST?
That says it all right there about him.
If the original line-up mattered to most Kiss fans, Kiss would not be able to tour at all. Very few would show up to the shows. And as we all know, that is not the case. Once again, E Black, you prove that you are not very smart.
I am right and you know it. You’re not speaking for the majority here.
I agree Shadez. Good post
Is it a coincidence that the official Kiss site posted exactly that video??
It was “BOOOOOOOOOOO”…..,I was there & every1 was booing….some of these meatheads that say it was Bruce Kulick are just here bullshitting while they support Paul & Gene. That’s fine but if you act like a internet meathead then your dumbasses are getting grilled, badly.
2 things, the handful of fans at the RRHOF may have spoken, but tours, and cruises prove that is only a small portion of fans. You ask Paul to stop bashing them? He is just now beginning to fire back from years of Trunk interviews and books by the other 2 that started all this mud slinging, they are big boys, if they want to talk trash they better expect this, even Ace said they all have good and bad to say about each other, but its obvious to me that you only find it acceptable when Ace and Peter do the bashing…is that about right?
They may have behaved for the induction ceremony, but none of the pics that were taken should be mistaken as four happy campers. At least all the ones I’ve seen, Gene & Paul seem to be keeping their distance?
I wasn’t there, did they all sit together at one table? Were they interacting? Getting along?
Appear to be having a good time? Or was it all just make believe for the crowd?
According to Eddie, they didn’t sit at the same tables. Paul and Gene had theirs, Ace had his with Eddie, and Peter had his. They did hugged when Paul and Gene arrived.
What I liked seeing during Ace’s speech was Gene and Paul in the background, guys who have quite frankly crossed the line to a fault with derogatory comments of late that I have found somewhat insulting (if you ask me) to previous members (ie. Mark St. John), allowing themselves a light moment and smiling and laughing to some of the comments and jokes by Ace (ie. the summer of love joke that went over peoples heads, the diarrhea/willpower/addict analogy, etc) – letting their guard down and being human….for a (refreshing) change. That is what will stick in my mind. These guys love Ace and Peter deep down when dollars and cents aren’t in the equation; there just alpha dogs whose competitiveness becomes a little absurd at times and buries some of the more positive emotions that do in fact exist. It’s good to know there is more good will between the 4 of them than we sometimes might think or realize.
I think they love each other too much to have their differences be exposed at the HoF.
i know that i personally heard paul pretty much only thank tom at the beginning of his speech and i do believe that was it, even though the other guys thanked people from that era of the 70’s notice gene and paul didn’t..i’m simply just saying it, i thought overall it was good and i thought ace was real cool and funny but hey its ace, i am so glad for them and wouldn’t want it any other way then for paul to not have boycott the live performance with only original kiss cause we all know it really boiled down to him. and i disagree with that..i also think i heard some booing ..when names were mentioned..ouch
KISStory has been made. It’s what I predicted – that the original lineup would not perform together, but rather accept the award at best. With this airing next month on HBO, I can see Paul’s speech being edited the most.
Yep. The editing will be covering over the BOOOOOOOOOing lol