KISS is about to get back on the road to continue their “End Of The Road” farewell tour. The trek started in 2019 and is scheduled to end sometime next year, 50 years after the band started. KISS co-founder Paul Stanley also revealed that this year’s Kiss Kruise XI will mark the “last onboard performance” of the band. “We’re gonna have great bands. We’re gonna a great time,” Stanley said. “Everybody says, ‘When is it gonna be the last one?’ Well, this is KISS Kruise XI, and you don’t want to miss it for a whole lotta reasons. I want you there. You deserve to be there. Be there.” Gene Simmons was recently interviewed by Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier about the band’s curtain call tour. “We start playing the outdoor stadiums of South America, literally within two weeks, and continue on to Europe and Australia and eventually North America, Japan, all that stuff. Mexico,” Simmons said. “And this is going to be the last tour. We’re done. We’re approaching 50 years of doing this, which is unbelievable because we never thought we’d last more than a few years.”
Simmons elaborated on KISS’ decision to retire saying that he and Stanley are in agreement that it is indeed the end of the road. “The last thing that you want to do is be a guy that stays in the ring too long and gets his *ss beat,” Simmons said. “Get out of the ring when you’re a champion. You got to understand — we love [Mick] Jagger and Bruno Mars and Bono and anybody else, they’re all great, but if you put those guys — Beyoncé, put Beyoncé in my outfit with seven-to-eight-inch platform heels, dragon boots that each weigh as much as a bowling ball, the entire outfit, studs, leather and armor is about 40 pounds,” he explained. “The guitar and the studs is 12 pounds by itself. Then, you got to spit fire, fly through the air and do that for two hours. They would pass out within a half hour. We are the hardest-working band out there and take pride in it. And not every band should be out there too long. You’ve got to have some pride and not stay too long. Always keep them wanting. I’m the most blessed and grateful guy in the world to be able to be in a band where I can wear more makeup and higher heels than your girlfriend.”
Simmons also recently doubled down on his previous comments that “rock is dead” in a new interview with Metal Hammer. “I stand by my words: rock is dead,” he said. “The people that killed it are fans. Fans killed the thing they loved by downloading and file sharing for free. How do you expect somebody who loves the guitar to come into this creative process? You’ve got to invent yourself. And so rock is dead.”
“Point to a new look. I played this game before and it bears noting, rock continues to be dead. From 1958 until 1988, 30 years, right? You got Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and on and on. Motown. You have the surf thing and the Beach Boys, the British invasion – hundreds of bands. The Hollies are hardly ever talked about, they’re a great band. Disco stuff, Madonna, Prince, Bowie, all that great stuff. You had the heavy bands Metallica and Iron Maiden, all that stuff in those 30 years. Eternal music and bands. But from 1988 until today, who is the new Beatles? BTS? There’s no denying BTS are world famous. But am I going to form a garage band to do those songs? No. I think they’re well-crafted and professional, but One Direction and NSYNC and all the boy bands don’t change the world. It just makes little girls hearts flutter and then they’re gone. That doesn’t have gravitas. Influential bands, that make somebody want to pick up a guitar, learn how to play songs and be in a band don’t exist, because you can’t make a living.”
