If they’re true to their word, KISS will play their final ever shows at Madison Square Garden this December.
If they’re true to their word, it will finally quash (some) fans’ waning hope that OG guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss would make one final appearance in the band.
Not on Paul Stanley’s watch. During a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, the singer discussed the possibility of Frehley and Criss making an unexpected return.
According to Stanley, the reason that they won’t return is the exact same reason that stopped KISS from performing at the 2014 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Stanley informed Stern that the band’s current lineup – which contains Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer – is the one that go KISS to where they are now and is the best representation of the band.
“The hypocrisy is that we’re not a band they (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) like,” he explained. “They purposely kept us out for 15 years. And other bands that they embrace, they induct people’s moms and songwriters and all these people.
“And with us, it truly was unfair. Because we had too much pride in this lineup, which is KISS, and has been KISS for 20 years. It’s not newcomers… This is the band that has carried the flag and taken it, really, to another level. This is the band I always dreamed it would be.”
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When the Hall of Fame organisers demanded that Frehley and Criss join the band at the induction ceremony, Stanley was frustrated.
“At this point, that would be demeaning to the band, and also would give some people confusion,” he continued. “‘Cause if you saw people onstage who looked like KISS but sounded like that, maybe we should be called Piss.”
While it’s unlikely that Stanley will change the KISS name to PISS, he should note that – thanks to a cursory google search – a Berlin hardcore band of that name already exists, lest anyone get litigious. Stick to KISS, Paul.
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