KISS appears to be winding down their lengthy “End of the Road” farewell tour. The final shows of the trek are scheduled for Dec. 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Since the band announced the tour some years ago, fans have speculated if original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss might join the group on stage at some point. Frehley said he would participate if the price was right, and bassist/singer Gene Simmons previously extended the olive branch for the pair to come back to play on encores during their final shows.
“Happy Birthday Ace @ace_frehley,” Simmons wrote last year. “And many more…The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it.”
Simmons also previously told Classic Rock: “I was hoping that Ace and Peter, at least for that, would be with us,” Simmons said. “It would be the saddest thing of all if they chose not to be there. But such is life. I hope and wish they’ll get over the victim, ‘look what happened to me.’ No, nothing happened to you. These were all decisions you made. They were in and out of the band three different times. Can you believe that? How many chances in life do you want? That’s the saddest thing.”
In a new interview with Linea Rock, Simmons was asked again about the possibility of Ace and Peter making an appearance on the band’s final tour. Needless to say, it doesn’t appear that anything has changed.
“For the fans — the older, older fans — the ones who’ve been around for 50 years, they’re old, and some of them wanna see Ace and Peter,” Simmons said.
“The newer fans never saw them and they don’t know. But the older fans wonder about Ace and Peter. Well, I asked both Ace and Peter a few times: ‘Do you wanna come out for the encores? Do you wanna do some shows?’ And they both said ‘no.’ So, I don’t know what to say about that… But it’s always welcome. But there are many other big stars, superstars, who wanna jump up onstage and play a song. But we’re not sure about that. Maybe the best thing to do is to end the way we started: four guys with guitars. No keyboards, no synthesizers — nothing. Just playing.”
KISS guitarist/singer Paul Stanley previously dissed Ace and Peter during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, and Frehley fired back demanding an apology, which he appears to have never got.
