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.
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21 Responses
As long as there’s money to be made, KI$$ won’t stop touring. Gene, the hypocrite, was critical of bands using tracks while performing live, while his own band’s frontman uses tracks for his failing voice. Cheater Criss pretends to play piano during his karaoke of the song “Beth”.
Paul is right….the KI$$ legacy will continue after the last tour date. KI$$ is one of the greatest rock bands of all time….until 2001. But they will continue to embarrass the brand until that last tour date.
What’s super annoying is when they compare Kiss to sports franchises by saying the people change but the uniforms don’t. Although that may be true, there has been no QB nearly as good as Joe Montana play for the 49ers since he retired. There has been no QB nearly as good as Dan Marino play for the Dolphins since he retired. These are hall of fame players. And the original lineup of Kiss plus Eric Carr are hall of famers. Every lineup since the original lineup has been good but definitely not on the level as the original four.
From time to time, I think these guys make these provocative statements just for press coverage and to keep people talking pro or con about the band. As the cliche goes, all press is good press (including this comment section).
Will KISS “go on” after Paul and Gene hang it up? Of course it will. Look at their idols, The Beatles. They put out remasters; they license new products and media ventures; they adapt their brand to every new technology that comes along; they have their own station on Sirius XM; there was an officially sanctioned tribute group (does anyone remember Beatlemania?); etc, etc., etc. Hell, they even have a long-running Las Vegas show at The Mirage with remixes of their catalog.
It would be foolish for KISS to not “go on.”
Speaking of the Real Paul Stanley, I just watched his performance of All Right Now at Criss Angels birthday party. Now how come Paul sounds light years better when performing with Kiss? Was he actually truly singing All Right Now and not lip syncing???? What a disgrace.
100% agree, RPS. A band is totally different than a sports franchise.
Gene and Paul will certainly begin making the characters (Demon. Starchild, etc…) the primary focus and official band membership of KI$$, rather than the individuals themselves, so KI$$ can continue with further replacement members that already started with the replacement of Ace and Peter. It will help the “sell” of KI$$ to those that fall for the gimmick.
Yes. Back in the 70’s it was Paul, Gene, Ace & Peter. The solo albums didn’t say Starchild, Demon, Spaceman or Catman. Nowadays everything is branded with the characters rather than the individual names. You hit the nail on the head.
I watched the all right now video , It sounded so awful it could not have been lip sync, I hate to keep trolling the guy but all the hypocrisy , the BS. The Lipsync, and the greed milking the loyal but blind hard-core fans out of every penny … paul and gene make it tough to like them ~