KISS is getting ready to say goodbye to the road next month, but Gene Simmons insists that won’t be the end of KISS.
“This tour is the end of the road for the band, not the brand,” he tells Canada’s 519 magazine. “KISS is a universe of its own—movies, merchandise, maybe even Broadway. The band will end, but the KISS experience … it’s immortal.”
And fans will even get to experience KISS onstage again, it just won’t be Simmons and his bandmates.
“The KISS show will live on in different ways,” he explains. “It’ll also be four to ten different traveling shows. So, you’ll be able to be in Japan and have Japanese actors, musicians being us, and at the same time you could go to Vegas or New York or London.”
When it comes to the final shows, many fans have been upset that original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss haven’t been part of them — and it turns out Simmons feels the same way.
While he says they’ve always been welcome, he blames their absence on “egos, personalities, addictions.”
“I feel sad and angry that both Ace and Peter aren’t here. I mean, they’re alive, but they’re not here to enjoy this unbelievable journey with us,” he says. “They were there at the beginning and deserve all the credit. And when they look in the mirror, the only reason they’re not here with us is themselves.”
KISS’ End of the Road tour hits Winnipeg on November 15. It wraps December 1 and 2 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with the final date streaming live worldwide. A complete list of dates can be found at kissonline.com.
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