Andy Greene of Rolling Stone reports:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s President and CEO Joel Peresman had to deal with the wrath of KISS frontman Paul Stanley, who has gone very public with his anger over the Hall of Fame’s decision to only induct the band’s original lineup. “I don’t need the Hall of Fame,” Stanley told Rolling Stone. “And if there’s not reciprocity, I’m not interested. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, practically every member was inducted, and virtually all 175 members of the Grateful Dead. Rules need to apply to everybody.”
“I don’t like all the sniping back and forth, though mostly it’s been forth,” says Peresman. “And I totally understand his point of view. What he’s failing to understand is that there are certain acts that are nominated and brought in on their entire body of work, up until the day before the nominating committee meets. They are still evolving bands that are breaking new ground. With KISS, there wasn’t a single person we spoke to that didn’t feel the reason these guys were being inducted was because of the four original members. It’s an incredibly unique situation. I can’t think of another band, outside of Gwar, that has members that are dressed up in costumes. You basically have these new members that are replicating exactly and playing the music that was created by the two other members that are being inducted.”
KISS has invited current members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer to sit at their table, along with former guitarist Bruce Kulick. “I appreciate how Tommy and Eric have filled in and the way they do things,” says Peresman. “They are fine musicians and I’m sure they’re lovely guys, but they are basically replicating the two members that are getting inducted. How could we have asked Ace and Peter to accept the award and then have other people in their guise playing their music? They probably wouldn’t have even come. They were very clear about that. . .Frankly, I’m really, really happy that KISS are being inducted. It should have happened a while ago. The four of them will get up, accept their award, say what they want to say and then we’ll move on.”
Read more at Rolling Stone.
source: rollingstone.com
121 Responses
I seen Paul on TV pimping his book this morning. He said the fans don’t care about who is behind the make up. The fans only care about the look and the music.
If that were true then why don’t Gene and Paul get 20something actors they teach how to play the 70s stuff put them in the make up and on tour.
If what Paul said is true that should be a mega million dollar tour. In reality it would be even more pathetic than watching these 60somethings trolling around on stage in full make up desperately trying to wring every last penny from the past.
As much as I think the RnR Hall of Fame is complete farce, I have to agree with this guy. From a fans point of view Tommy and Eric are pretending to be Ace and Peter…simple as that.