Rolling Stone has printed KISS’ acceptance speech from their Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction on April 10th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Read it below.
Gene Simmons: Lemme hear ya! Tom Morello, we are humbled—all of us—to stand up on this stage and do what we love doing. This is a profound moment for all of us. We are humbled that the fans gave us the chance to do what we love doing. And so I’m hear just to say a few kind words about the four knuckleheads who, 40 years ago, got together and decided to put together the band that you see on stage, critics be damned.
To Ace Frehley: his iconic guitar playing has been imitated, but never duplicated, by generations of guitar players around the world. To Peter Criss, whose drumming and singing…Well, there’s not a guy out there who beats the sticks who sounds just like Peter. Nobody’s got that swing and that style.
Something happened, 40 years ago: I met the partner and the brother I never knew I had—Paul Stanley. You couldn’t ask for someone more awesome to be on the same team. I am humbled.
I was going to say a few kind words about Eric Carr, Rest in Peace. Mark St. John, Rest in Peace. Vinnie Vincent, the great Bruce Kulick, and of course, here we are 40 years later with the great Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, and we continue on.
However, we wouldn’t be here today without the initial Fantastic Four. God bless you all. May I introduce the powerful and attractive—Peter Criss!
Peter Criss: Thank you. I want to say it’s great to be home in Brooklyn. I’d like to thank the Hall of Fame for this honor; I never thought this could happen in my life. Thank you. I’d like to thank everybody that had to do something with my career and the band’s career. For 50 years, I’ve been doing it; 40 years, we’ve been doing it.
Jesus—from the grips, to the truck drivers, to the great producers, to the great managers, to the great people who were just all there for us through all the years and the hard times. God bless you and thank you so much.
I definitely want to thank our first manager, Bill Aucoin. We would not be here if it wasn’t for Bill. Sean Delaney, the great Joyce Bogart, and the great Neil Bogart—who with Casablanca Records…those were the great days and I thank them all. I’d like to congratulate the band, of course—Mr. Stanley, Mr. Simmons, and the one and only Spaceman, Ace Frehley.
I’d also like to say I’m now seven years male breast cancer-free. Thank you—I’m very proud that I have… my fancy support center, and my doctor, who saved my life in the first place. Thank you so much.
I would like to thank my family—my sister Donna who I know is out there. All my friends who have come…and God, I’d be here all night. I’d like to thank my lovely wife Gigi, who makes my life really, really a lot easier. Lemme tell ya: walking through life with her is a blessing. I love you, baby.
I got my first lesson from my best friend, Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls. And boy, that’s what started it all off.
I want to say that, even out of makeup, I’ll always be the Catman. God bless each and every one of you—I will remember this the rest of my life. Thank you so much.
Ace Frehley: I have a speech here, but these [glasses] aren’t prescription, so I can’t work it out [laughs]. It’s so great to be here with all these celebrities and other musicians.
I want to thank Paul, Gene, and Peter. Thank you so much, Tom, for that beautiful introduction. I want to thank the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for inducting us; thank you very much.
When I was 13 years old, I picked up my first guitar, and I always sensed that I was going to be in for something big. Little did I know, a few years later, there it was. I experienced the Summer of Love. [laughs] Alright. That was before I met these clowns. Several years later, we got together—you know the story, it’s all KISS-tory.
A few quick names—Bill Aucoin, Joyce Biawitz—who used to manage us in conjunction with Bill, then ended up marrying Neil Bogart. We wouldn’t be here without Neil Bogart and Casablanca Records. Everyone at Casablanca Records, everyone at ATI, Jeff, and Wally. Everyone at the press office; Carol and Al Ross; Carol Kaye; just to name a few. If I named everyone who helped us through our career, I’d be here for another half an hour. It’s great to be here.
I wanted to touch on the fact that I’ve been sober now for seven and a half years. We still need to educate the people in this country about sobriety because some people think it has to do with willpower. But unfortunately, most addicts are born that way and people need to be educated about that. My sponsor, he used to have a good saying, to try and explain what it’s like to be an addict: when people would say to use willpower, he’d say, “Try using willpower when you’re having diarrhea.”
So, only by the grace of God I’m here. I want to thank my first wife Jeanette, my daughter, my current fiancé Rachael Gordon. Life’s been good to me; hopefully I’ve got 10 or 20 more years to go. Thank you very much.
Paul Stanley: I can make this short and sweet because everybody said everything and has been much funnier than I’ll ever be.
So, I got to thank Tom, who’s championed us shamelessly and unapologetically. Took a lot of balls, and God bless you. For us, this is a special night, but it’s really a special night for all of our fans—this is vindication. We couldn’t have done this without you.
To Peter, Ace, Gene—we are the original four, so we could not have done this if we didn’t start this together. Everything we’ve done is built on the past. We’ve got a great, great legacy. We’ve got Bruce here, we’ve got Tommy, we’ve got Eric…
When I first started listening to music, I was lucky: I saw a lot of people I loved. When I was a kid, I saw Solomon Burke, I saw Otis Redding, I got to see the Yardbirds. I got to see Led Zeppelin; Jimi Hendrix; Sly and the Family Stone; the list goes on and on. What I loved about all these musicians is that they had the spirit of Rock and Roll. I believe that the spirit of Rock and Roll means you follow your own path regardless of critics, and regardless of your peers. I think we’ve done that for forty years.
Here we are tonight, basically inducted for the same things that we were kept out for. The people, I believe we’re speaking to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and what they’re saying is, “We want more.” They deserve more. They want to be apart of the induction. They want to be apart of the nomination. They don’t want to be spoon-fed by a handful of people. Choices. The people pay for tickets. The people buy albums. The people who nominate do not. Let’s not forget that these are the people that make it all possible.
So, I look out here and I see all these people. I see faces that over the years inspired me. People who made me what I am. So I am here tonight because of the people who inspired me, but I’m also here because of the people I inspired. So God bless you all; it’s been a wonderful night.
Watch the full speech below.
source: rollingstone.com
129 Responses
Paul truly is a Sad case. I use to think he was the Glue now I think he is the downfall of the band. Thank God it is over and we don’t have to hear any more drama.
Yes it is over. Paul and Gene went on with KISS to play the Tonight Show on national TV the next day. Peter had an autograph session at the dollar store for 7 people and Ace met with his promoter to set up his county fair tour.
7
It’s easy when you own the band name. Take that away and Gene and Paul would be playing toilet stalls as well. Fact.
Downfall? You consider 40 years a downfall? Holy hell, how many bands can you count that lasted 40 years. Man, I’d hate to see what you consider a success…immortality maybe.
Lasted 40 years? Lasted in what condition is the question…
Clearly a successful one, that is the answer.
The other thing I realize watching all the speeches was that if Ace and Peter were more like Gene and Paul, the band wouldn’t have been half as fun. I remember watching the Tom Snyder interview in ’79 when Ace and Peter took over. Paul and Gene were cringing about the fact that they were losing control. Meanwhile, Ace and Peter threw caution to the wind and wanted to let loose and have some fun with it. Gene and Paul, as you can tell by the speeches, are pretty sterile guys and don’t know how to laugh at themselves nearly as much as Peter – and especially Ace. We can argue about the grief Ace and Peter caused with their addictions, but their personalities added a lot of spice to the equation and gave the band the unique personality it had when you mixed everyone together. As Gene said in the Ken Sharp book, you couldn’t find 4 guys more different than each other. There is hardly a band without some kind of drama when you live with each other for that many years. When I look band on all that has happened, I’m not sure that I would have changed a thing. If you look at the current lineup, there is no drama. In a lot of ways that is good thing, however, it is far less interesting to follow. Congrats to the original 4 and being immortalized forever.
Even though I DO like Eric and Tommy in the band, I admit I miss the dangerous aspect of the band that Ace and Peter brought. But…I am saying this as a fan and not as someone who has to work with them. Peter’s singing style and the way Ace moved on the stage were–well, unbeatable. Peter was a very emotional and soulful singer with a lot of conviction, and Ace was just fun to watch because he had (and still has) the swagger that Gene has mentioned in the past.
I forgot to mention Ace’s guitar style all the way from KISS to The Elder. Everything he did in KISS was excellent. Escape from the Island and Dark Light off The Elder are awesome. In Your Face and Into the Void are awesome too. Even though Anomaly didn’t blow me away I am looking forward to Space Invader.
Yes, the swagger of an alcoholic who just downed hid 8th vodka and tonic.
Paul, is that you again?? Repeating the same old shit agin? Unmask yourself! (no pun intended …)
I saw the Tom Snyder show too. Paul and Gene were cringing because Ace was acting like a drunken idiot and embarrassing the band. Anyone with a work ethic would notice that.
What do you like better, a rock’n roll, band with an unpredictable, i.e. rock’n roll attidude, or four bank clerks accidentally making music? A band that might polarize or a group of guitar playing nerds? I agree, P and G have always tried to keep it business, which accounts for the band sttil being in the selfsame business, one has to admit, but I came to like the band for the unpredictable, weird performance and behaviour and for exactly those imperfections that others criitcized and made fun of on the schoolyard, because that was cool, that was different.
Ace was being what he was – A Rockstar. And God damn funny. So what if he was an alcoholic? he played his part on stage, and that’s what counts.
Ahhh yes a couple of union members posting….. members of POWE (Paucity of Work Ethic) Local 140 Union. Did you guys wear your satin jackets with your union’s logo on the back – a picture of a guy passed out next to an empty laying on the dock?
Truth, you’re beyond ridiculous now. That was a classic interview with Tom Snyder that until the day he died , he was talking about as one of the most fun things he’s ever done. Even Gene & Paul look back at that fondly. So really, knock it off. You’re that upset that not everybody buys Paul’s BS , huh? Just buy a ticket for this farce of a tour they’re on or that stupid cruise. Scream your heart out for Cheater Criss and Fake Frehley while wearing your underoos.
Yes Jimi…he played the part onstage and he did it well…there’s only one Ace and we all love him for it…onstage wasn’t the problem. Offstage was. And when your part of a band, that’s just as important.
I thought the speeches were very well done. Who knows what the future brings? I envision Paul and Gene eventually replacing themselves with other people so the kiss machine rolls on forever. Or they could just become holograms. That might be the 30 year down the road vision but it could happen. I understood both sides. Thanks to eddie who kept pushing for this to happen, regardless how the band feels or what they dictated, Eddie was un relenting in his drive to make one of his favorite bands get the respect they deserve. Despite the controversy, they got in and kiss has a huge catalog of killer tracks. Rock on people…rock on.
So, looking at the pics … did Peter’s award break? The figure is supposed to be holding a record (the other three do). WTF? He / they waited 15 years for something that breaks?
Damn
On the video I remember he said something about it being heavy.
Ace and Pete truly seemed very happy to be there. The other two, not so much . Of all the tv or youtube interviews I’ve seen or heard with Ace and Peter, they came across as fun loving. Gene and Paul are too serious like they got sticks up their asses.
Ahhh yes, everyone seems fun loving when they have no obligations or responsibilities. If Peter wasn’t at this event, he would have been at home petting his cat and throwing darts at pictures of Paul and Gene as he does every night.
And Tommy would have been getting Gene’s dinner.
No, he would be prepping for the tour. Something that Peter doesn’t have to worry about.
Allow me to finish Truth’s statement for him: “He would be prepping for the tour that Paul can’t sing properly for anymore, yet charges full price…”
Oh good grief! I hope he broke the damn thing on purpose to spite the RRHOF but that’s unlikely. He seemed genuinely honored. If that award is important to him, I sure as hell hope its not broken.
Eric probably broke it off and stole it knowing he would never earn one based his personal contributions only.
Are you a fan? It doesn’t seem like it so far. What is it you DO LIKE about KISS?
You can say that again.
It’s done and over with, there in, they got to say what they wanted, now its time to move on, some will continue to support the line up now, others wont……end of story