*UPDATED*: ORIGINAL KISS MEMBERS COME TOGETHER FOR THE ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
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
I have to say that the four of them onstage really does make an impact that I certainly did not predict…even though better musicians have come and gone, Peter and Ace just gel with Gene and Paul…my assessment of the chemistry is Peter and Ace are hardcore, partying, fun people, but Gene and Paul are more stiffs in that department…Peter and Ace make Gene and Paul more “loose” in the approach to the band while Paul and Gene make the other two more responsible…THEY NEED EACH OTHER…you don’t want your band mate missing shows and recording sessions, but bands lose their edge because of over thinking after success, to maintain success…That’s why I think Gene and Paul have such a hard time with those two…A great night for the band regardless..
Very well said.
all’s well that ends well.
I can see the dollar signs in genes eyes. They will have a shit turnout for their 40th anniversary tour. As long they are all still alive and well there is a chance they will reunite, especially with poor ticket sales this year.
Or maybe Gene wants to have all KISS members perform at the 40th anniversary tour that he would have for the HoF before they shot that down.
Gonna skip the kiss tour in denver rather save my money for Aerosmith the following month.
The four of them onstage together, out of make-up, dressed up in nice clothes last night still had more mystique & magic for that 10 minutes last night than any performance I’ve seen with Thayer & Singer. It was KISS! All speeches were genuine & heartfelt. Glad Peter had the balls to say Ace is the real spaceman because quite simply it’s true! I’m happy Paul said what he said about the RRHOF because again it’s true. Liberals like Dave Marsh are in denial and tend to replace FACTS with knee jerk reactions & dishonest misleading ploys to get what they want by any means necessary. If that was the last we’ve seen of the original four together on the same stage at the same time I’m ok with it as it could’ve been much worse. Again the magic was there. You could see it and you could feel it. Thank you Ace, Peter, Gene & Paul for acting like grown men and walking into the sunset peacefully. I’m officially done with KISS going forward as the original four have reached the mountain top three times now. There are only two post-1977 Kiss records that even come close to matching the first six studio albums and the first two Alive albums. Those would be Creatures of the Night & Revenge. Eric Carr & Bruce Kulick were great while they were in KISS and I love both of them. But it was a very different era of KISS that does not come close to comparing to the original KISS. But at least the non make-up years were “original” in their own way compared to the Kiss cover band of today. I could totally dig today’s Kiss if they took the make up off. There’s only one true KISS in make up. They are Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley & Peter Criss. Case closed.
I always felt that the HoF would be the final reunion of the original KISS lineup. I may not like the current KISS in makeup, but I like their music.
Well said and I do agree however, I would take Lick It Up over Revenge. LIU is killer, give it another spin and rock on !!!
I love LIU. The title track, Not For The Innocent, A Million To One, Fits Like A Glove And On The 8th Day are certainly crushers in the Kiss library but I still think Revenge is overall a much better album.