Paul Stanley says KISS’ legacy will live on beyond their last tour date — if that day ever comes, that is.
Page Six exclusively caught up with the 70-year-old frontman, who is in the midst of the band’s End of the Road World Tour, to discuss the looming end of the band’s nearly 50-year reign.
“At this point, it really comes down to what’s possible at certain ages,” Stanley told us.
“If we were wearing sneakers and T-shirts and jeans, we could do this into our 90s. But we’re carrying around 30, 40, 50 pounds of gear on stage, and making it look easy. And at some point, you realize that you can’t do that indefinitely.”
KISS originally consisted of Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. However, the latter two were part of the band on and off throughout the years before finally quitting in the early 2000s.
Since January 2019, Stanley and Simmons have been on tour alongside Eric Thayer and Tommy Singer — and they haven’t shown any signs of stopping.
“As far as a tour going on forever, we have to acknowledge that two years were lost with COVID,” he said. “So from the time the tour was announced, we lost two years.”
“But that being said, last week we played to 80,000 people in Mexico City and the week before we were close to 40,000 in Tokyo.”
As for the future of the rock group without its original members, Stanley sees the band “continuing” to be part of American culture even after they’re gone.
“I see KISS continuing — in what form that manifests itself is really something that will develop over time. I don’t know exactly what that means. But quite honestly, we couldn’t kill KISS if we wanted to. It’s a part of Americana.”
He continued, “It’s part of world consciousness, and even if we stop, the band continues, in essence. But should it diversify and spread in terms of what KISS is? Sure, the idea, the limitations of other bands, that’s their problem. We’re not those bands.”
While neither Simmons nor Stanley has revealed the last stop on their tour — which fans have hilariously dubbed the “never-ending world tour” — the former told us last month that they know when things will come to an end.
“I know where and when, but I’m not [revealing yet],” Simmons told us. “I do know the last day and date. But you don’t want to find out what you’re getting for Christmas as a present in July, right?”
“We love the fans, and we don’t want to stay on stage too long, but we’re having the time of our lives,” he continued.
Read more, here.
21 Responses
I just wanted to mention now that we are talking about Kiss. I found that there are a lot of bad reviews on amazon. The real ones, not the fake ones saying that the sound board releases are not real quality soundboard recording. I have decided not to give them a penny for them. And Merry Christmas to everybody and Dana for putting some really great articles on this site though out the year!!!!!!!!!
Happy Holidays George! I own a few of these on cd except for the Virginia Beach one. The only one I own on vinyl and cd is Donington 1996. The 2001 Tokyo show with Ace and Singer is good quality and I’m happy I bought the cd. Donington is very good as well and I am happy I bought it on vinyl too. Des Moines I own on cd and the quality is awful and almost painful to listen to so I’m glad I didn’t get the vinyl. I could care less about the Virginia Beach show and I’ve never listened to it on streaming platforms.
Dana , Eddie,
Merry Christmas ! To you both your loved ones and everyone here! I hope it’s wonderful and full of laughter and of course lots if presents!
Unreal how KI$$ managed to keep their name out there since the 70’s…. Love Em, Leave Em, or call out the Dr. so the two original performers can get oxygen backstage when performing live. Somehow they managed to keep the worn out band out there. Yes, it’s beyond pathetic and embarrassing to see has-beens try and stay relevant, however, they seem to enjoy every oz. of coin that goes along with it. At this point, they should be more credited for being marketing gurus rather than musicians. It’s a shame that the next generation doesn’t actually know who they are seeing when they see them live. The Cat-man / Spaceman, come on please, they should say, contract musicians for the original lead guitar and original drummer. The KI$$ era from 1972 – 1977 was it for me, after that, the band became a hired musicians group. However, Greedy and Paula don’t care as long as the KI$$ money machine keeps cranking out the almighty dollar!!!
Speaking of the Kiss money machine, I predict that this current lineup will continue to play shows without makeup because they could do it till they’re in their 90’s if they didn’t have to wear 76 pounds of gear every night. Or is it 50 pounds? Or 38.5 pounds? It changes every interview. And they will say that the end of the road was just the end of touring for Kiss in makeup. Just wait and see!