https://www.podbean.com/ep/dir-8vimq-2401bc23

During an appearance on the latest episode of “Talk Is Jericho”, the podcast hosted by wrestling superstar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho, KISS guitarist Paul Stanley was asked why there weren’t any guest appearances by former KISS members at the band’s final shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 2023. Paul responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “To be somewhat diplomatic, there were people who made unrealistic demands of what they required. And it’s not about that. It wasn’t, for example, a celebration of the beginning of the band; it was a celebration of 50 years of a band, as opposed to a tribute to the start. So, as far as Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], they weren’t there for many reasons. And I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it another hundred times. We couldn’t be here today without what those guys did, and we couldn’t be here today with them.”

Asked by Jericho about the lack of any mention of other former KISS members, such as Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick and Mark St. John, Stanley said: “What are you gonna do? I think the best way to honor everyone is to be the best we can be. What are we gonna have — videos up on the screen or draped photos? The fact that we were there, we were there because of everybody who participated, some more than others, but the tribute to everyone is us existing.”

Regarding how he feels about KISS‘s legacy, especially in light of the fact that bands like THE ROLLING STONES are still continuing to play and record music, Paul said: “I think the legacy is only gonna grow. I think it’s only gonna get bigger. THE STONES are an interesting one. At some point, what’s it gonna be? THE STONE? ‘I’m gonna see THE ROLLING STONE.’ They have survived more decades than us, certainly, and are an institution. People go to see them because it’s THE STONES. So, I think that over time we’ll only get bigger because you become more powerful the longer you exist.”

Paul added: “When we were doing the ‘End Of The Road’ tour, I think we became almost superheroes because we were timeless and we didn’t change that greatly. People would come to see us and go, ‘Wow, they look like they did 40 years ago.’ You didn’t get that close to us. But, yeah, I think KISS is timeless and that KISS will just transcend everything it’s been.”

Last year, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick told Finland’s Chaoszine that Stanley and fellow KISS founder Gene Simmons “missed a really huge opportunity” when they failed to acknowledge any of the band’s former members during the final concert. “It’s not just about me,” Bruce clarified. “[They also didn’t mention late KISS drummer] Eric Carr, Ace and Peter, and [late KISS manager] Bill Aucoin. Come on. Terrible. They really missed making a better feel-good evening for everyone when it was much closer to every night before. And those who say, ‘Well, I saw you up on the screen.’ They’d been doing that for years where they’d have little things. So they didn’t feel it was important. I feel they missed an opportunity.”

In January 2024, Frehley explained to Rock Candy magazine why he never made it on stage with KISS for their final show at Madison Square Garden after last leaving the band back in 2002.

“Fans would constantly reach out to me and say, ‘Ace, please come back to the band,'” Frehley explained. “So the fans were and are my primary motivators, and I want them to know that I did try, but I couldn’t make it happen. They never asked me.”

Frehley dismissed the idea that his well-documented troubles with drugs and alcohol could ever have been a reason for Simmons and Stanley not reaching out to him.

“I’m sober, and all my friends and associates will tell you as much,” he stated categorically. “I got to the point in life where drugs and alcohol had taken me over, and I’m just so happy to be away from all that.”

Despite the much-reported rifts with Simmons and Stanley over many years, nevertheless Frehley insisted that he still had affection for both of them.

“I want people to know that I do love Paul and Gene,” he said. “I wish things would have been different, but it wasn’t to be…” Nor does Frehley hold any animosity towards his replacement Tommy Thayer. “He’s a good guy and deserves a break,” Ace said. “He’s not me, but he was never going to be me. In a lot of ways, his task was impossible.”

In November 2023, prior to KISS‘s final concert, Frehley told Mark Strigl of SiriusXM‘s Ozzy’s Boneyard that he didn’t hold a grudge against KISS, despite all the badmouthing that had gone on between him and some of the other original KISS members in recent years.

“I wish KISS the best, all the best on their final shows for the ‘End Of The Road’ tour,” he said. “There’s really no hard feelings. We say things sometimes in the heat of passion or sometimes our memory isn’t… [we don’t] recall things. But I love those guys. We’re all getting old, our memory isn’t what it used to be, so I just let it roll off my back.”

Also in November 2023, Simmons lamented the absence of Frehley and Criss at KISS‘s final shows, telling 519 Magazine: “I feel sad. 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. 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.

“Inviting them was as much for the fans as it was for us. KISS has always been about the whole, not the individual. It would’ve been fitting to have all of us there, one last time.”

In June 2023, Gene was asked by Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock about the possibility of Ace and Peter making guest appearances at the band’s last-ever concerts in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He responded: “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. 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.”

In April 2023, Frehley told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he was still open to playing with KISS at the band’s final shows in New York City. “Money motivates me, just like it motivates them, but I don’t put money before God,” he explained. “If I got a quarter of a million dollars a night, and I can make half a million dollars for playing three or four songs, five songs, I’d take the money. [I’d] buy a Ferrari… buy a Maserati. [Laughs] I don’t really wanna play with those guys ever again after what they’ve done, but money can change my mind.”

Frehley continued: “Look, I’m a capitalist. I grew up in America. But I’d never put money before people’s feelings. I like money as much as the next guy does, but money isn’t my God, like it is theirs. They’re all atheists. Whatever they can do or say, whether it’s true or false, as long as it makes them the most amount of money, they’re gonna do [it].”

Ace also addressed the issue of whether he would perform with KISS at the band’s final concerts while wearing his trademark “Spaceman” makeup — the same makeup his replacement Tommy Thayer had been sporting for more than two decades. “Sure. For a quarter of a million dollars,” he said, explaining that “I’m a good-looking guy. I don’t need the makeup.”

When Trunk pressed Ace about what he thought the odds were of him playing with KISS at the final concerts in New York, Frehley said: “It all depends on money. If I get a formal invitation with a check, I’ll be there. But they’ve gotta have deep pockets… If they don’t wanna pay me, I won’t be there, ladies and gentleman.”

Ace also once again confirmed that he had never received a formal invitation to join his former bandmates at their last-ever shows. “Absolutely not,” he said. “From what I understand, the shows are sold out. The only reason they sold out is they made innuendos that me and Peter were gonna be there, [that] they invited us. I wasn’t invited. They lie all the time. Haven’t they said, ‘We’re inviting Ace and Peter to come up and play?’ Or at least me? Multiple times. So, people bought the tickets. But I haven’t been given a formal invitation or given an offer monetarily. And I’m probably not gonna get one now after this interview. And guess what: I don’t give a shit.”

Despite everything that has been said between all the parties, Ace claimed that he still looked back fondly on his time with KISS and he didn’t hate his former bandmates.

“Look, the bottom line is this: deep down in my heart, I love those guys, because we created something so special that it will be remembered for years,” he said. “When we’re all dead and buried, there will still be people listening to KISS music. And I’m overjoyed. But I want my legacy to be cleared of any of this bullshit and lies.”

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“End Of The Road” was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but was later extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band’s classic song “Detroit Rock City” on “America’s Got Talent”.

In a June 2022 interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, Simmons was asked if Frehley and Peter would have any involvement in KISS‘s final concerts. He responded: “We’ve tried. I keep trying. Paul and I met with Ace, trying to convince him to come back. He said, ‘I want this. I want that.’ Well, we can’t do that. I asked Ace and Peter to be in the documentary [‘Biography: KISStory’, which premiered on A&E in June 2021]. They said no. They might do it if they have complete control of the edit. I said, ‘We can’t do that, because even we don’t have that. But I won’t control what you say; you can say whatever you want.’ The answer is no — both of them. I asked Ace and Peter, ‘Come out on tour. We’ll get you your own room and everything. Come out on the encores.’ Ace said, ‘No. The only way I’ll come out is if I’m the Spaceman and you ask Tommy [Thayer, KISS‘s current guitarist] to leave.’ I go, ‘Well, that’s not gonna happen.’ First of all, I care about Ace, but he’s not in shape — he can’t play that way and doesn’t have the physical stamina to do that…

“Look, we care about them,” Gene added. “We started this thing together and they were equally important to the beginning of the band with Paul and I — no question. But as time went on… Not everybody is designed to run a marathon. Some people are designed to be in a band for a year or two, or a few years, and then that’s all they can do. And both of them have been in the band three different times. How many chances in life do you get? All I know is when I put my hand in fire the first time, I got burnt; I didn’t get a second or third chance.

“So, the answer is the door’s always open,” Simmons said. “If they wanna jump on stage at any time and do the encores with us, terrific. But no, we’re not gonna get rid of Tommy or Eric [Singer, current KISS drummer]. In fact, Tommy and Eric are the best things that happened to us. They gave us new life [and] new appreciation for what we do because they were fans first. And every once in a while, Eric or Tommy will turn around and say, ‘Wow! Isn’t this great?’ And it makes us realize, ‘Yeah! Wow! Isn’t this great?'”

Gene was also asked if he saw any of the video footage from the May 2022 Creatures Fest in Nashville where Criss, Frehley and fellow former KISS members Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick all performed. He responded: “Somebody showed me about 30 seconds, yeah. It was very sad. I felt sad for Peter… When I called to invite Peter to be in the documentary, his health isn’t what it should be. I don’t wanna get too specific because it’s part of his private life. But no, physically, he wouldn’t be able to do it. Neither would Ace.”

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They were made for lovin’ music, too! Evan Stanley (son of KISS singer-guitarist Paul Stanley) has teamed up with Nick Simmons (son of KISS singer-bassist Gene Simmons) to record an album’s worth of music together.

Late last year, Evan and Nick posted a video of them singing an acoustic version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” on Instagram. Now, they’ve taken their musical partnership to the next level.

A few days ago, Evan posted a photo of himself with Nick, captioning it, “One song turned into 10 real quick.” He followed that up with another post of the two performing one of their new tunes alongside singer-guitarist Jacob Bunton (Steven Adler, Mars Electric, Lynam), writing, “Wrote this one with our buddy Jacob yesterday.”

Paul Stanley commented on the performance simply with the word, “Magic!!!!,” while Nick’s sister Sophie Simmons wrote, “WE WANT THE ALBUM.”

Evan is already an accomplished musician, as the 30-year-old singer-guitarist fronts the band Amber Wild, who opened for KISS on the latter’s farewell tour.

The 36-year-old Nick, meanwhile, is known for appearing in the A&E reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels. He also created a comic book series called Incarnate, and did voice-over work on Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken. While he doesn’t have a long résumé when it comes to music, he did contribute vocals to Gene Simmons’ 2004 song “Carnival of Souls” and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick’s 2010 tune “Hand to the King.”

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These are the rare hard to find Spencer Gifts KISS house slippers. This is the Demon version. Released late 90s. Look to be in Mint shape no noticeable issues. Still has tag. Been in storage for years. Size M/L.

Order now at KISSArmyWarehouse.com!

Guitarist Bruce Kulick reflected on getting the chance to jam with other former Kiss axemen, Vinnie Vincent and Ace Frehley, revealing what was special about this occasion.

Although Ace is the original one, Kisstory praises all the guitar players and other musicians who joined Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley throughout the years. Bruce played an important role, providing lead parts on several classic albums during his time in the lineup between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s.

However, getting Bruce, Ace, and Vinnie on the stage is something else, and that exact thing happened back in 2022. While interviewing Bruce Kulick late last year, we took a moment to ask him about the occasion and what the performance was like.

You played with Vinnie Vincent and Ace Frehley in 2022 as part of Creatures Fest. How was that experience, and would you ever work with Vinnie again?

“I had a lot of high hopes. First of all, the concept of the Holy Trinity, put on by that promoter, was really fascinating, because you got Ace, Vinnie, myself. Now, Vinnie being the Howard Hughes, that was my quote with Rolling Stone ages ago, which was pretty true, actually coming out and being visible again… yeah, he did it at one event, like a year or two earlier or something, but not to the exposure that this event would offer him.”

“And the promoter was very tight with him and gave him every opportunity to really have, like a showcase ‘Vinnie Vincent day.’ The tank [a replica of part of the ‘Creatures of the Night’ and ‘Lick It Up’ tours] is built, which, believe me, the promoter had other reasons for that. He’s also in a tribute band. He could use it. But the tank is certainly more related to Vinnie than Ace or I, even though it’s iconic Kiss staging from Lick It Up, and with Eric Carr being gone, so who’s going to enjoy that other than a tribute band or Vinnie Vincent?”

“So I had no clue that the tank would be rolled out. Vinnie would be on the top, and then I’m over here, and then Ace would follow me. It also was understood. I worked with the guy who worked on the music as part of the backing tracks that we’d have a drummer, and there’d be a bass player, and somebody that would sing. And suddenly, there is no drummer. And it’s just tracks. I knew the guy who was working with Vinnie, and I liked him, and I knew he was professional, so I could vouch when Ace said, like, ‘What the hell is going on? Where’s the drummer?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. But all we have is this track. I know the track works, but what do you want to do?'”

“We were both in a weird situation, you know, get all ‘rock star stomping feet and attitude’ about it, or give the fans what they want, and let it be what it’s going to be. And I always tend to take the high road and try not to focus on anything that… You lied to me! It was supposed to be this!’ You know what I mean? Because I just don’t see the end results, helping the situation.”

“So, we made a pact. Ace was like, ‘If you’re going to do it, I’m going to do it, but I’m only going to do it because you’re going to do it.’ It was like, this funny kumbaya with Ace, that I that I did bond with him. And I said, ‘But we’re just doing it for the fans. I mean, no one’s going to control the narrative here.’ Vinnie wanted to, and in a sense, unfortunately, he did. But it was for the fans. So, we’re going to go out there.”

“And it was hard because there is no drummer to look at going like, ‘I’m ready count it off, 123.’ So there was those ‘snafus,’ shall I say. And it’s questionable how much Vinnie really played or didn’t. I ran into him on the way to the stage, and I asked him. I said, ‘Are you taking the high part here, or the low?’ Because I knew that what the tracks are supposed to be like, and he was being extra, extra like, ‘Whatever you want to do, this is your moment.’ I’m like, ‘That’s a funny way to try to defuse me, if I had any anger.’ And I don’t like to carry any anger.”

“So I was just like, ‘Alright, well, I like doing the…’ I forget if I told him it was the high or the low, you go to the other one. So I just told him. ‘This is all about you guys.’ But they’re all out there, it’s the Vinnie Vincent day! I get it that the three of us will be there. He knew how to be politically correct at a moment when he was actually pulling some strings with how that was going to go. But ultimately we pulled it off.”

“The weirdest thing was, sadly that at the very end, unfortunately, and this happens sometimes, especially when you don’t have your whole road crew and stuff, where Ace’s amp went down. I’m sure that the speaker cable came out. And then suddenly, I’m the only one really playing at the end of ‘Cold Gin.’ And they didn’t want video. Some people snuck video, of course, but Vinnie put the word out there. They didn’t want it filmed. The lighting was intentionally, I called it ‘Star Trek Voyager Blue Borg Look’ or something. It was very weird. And the next thing I know, it sounded like I was the only one playing with the drums and the bass. So, it was a surreal experience. It was. And that being said, I don’t wish anything against Vinnie, but I don’t have any interest in really trying to work with him in any capacity.”

Did Vinnie appreciate you wearing a bandana with Egyptian crosses on it?

“That was definitely planned by me. I’ve been wearing these headband things since, really, 2000, when I started to perform with Grand Funk and a lot of outdoor gigs: there’s no way I need my hair flying all over the place. And it’s not what it was from, y’know, 1980, 1990, right? But I remember finding those headscarf things, [which is] very hard. They’re Indian cotton, and no one really sells them anymore. It’s kind of weird, but they were very popular on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. So, I remember saying to Lisa, my wife, ‘I don’t wear this anhk one very often,’ partially because it was something connected to Vinnie and Kiss.”

“But as you know, it wasn’t created that way. That’s a symbol, just like I have the Yin Yang one, and I have some skulls, and I have pirate-looking ones. But I said, ‘At the Holy Trinity gig, I’ll wear it. And I did point to it. I mean, it wasn’t hard for Vinnie to see it. He’s like, up on the top of the tank, and I gave him a little thumbs up. I mean, again, we showed it’s that respect, that even when you know, if you’re debating someone and you’re politicians, you know you should always come out and shake hands.”

“I mean, even though you hate the other person and you don’t want him to win, it’s just… they probably shake in a gunfight, back in the day. Or these ultimate fighters, and they’re just going to kill each other as soon as the bell rings, right? So we’re all kind to each other. But I pointed it out to Vinnie. Ace was very cool with everything, and we posed with Vinnie. And Vinnie, actually one thing I did want to mention is he knew all about my wife and I during the pandemic, we were working on these pancake sites, you know, ‘Kulick’s pancake recipes.’ He knew all about it. He loved it! It was so funny. And I’m thinking, ‘Alright, so that’s what he’s doing? He’s making pancakes at home from my wife’s recipes?'”

“But the ankh was obviously a tip of the hat to him, and what that represented from his era in Kiss, because it does have value. There are certain fans that love it. And at some point I knew there would be a fan that would ask me about it. And sure enough, it’s proudly in this guy on the East Coast in his collection now, and I’m very happy for that.”

“We all got to sign, in fact, the guitar that I played. I remember people getting excited, ‘Do you want to sell that?’ And all three of the guys wound up signing it: myself, Ace and Vinnie, which is really cool. So, to me, I always try to keep the respect of all eras, all the artists, everybody in the band high. And I think that event did really, it was a special one. I mean, nothing like that may happen again, but I’m just glad that the people there, they had their opinions. They were vocal about it in many ways. But it was certainly a fascinating footnote in ‘Kisstory,’ no doubt.”

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KISS played their final show in December 2023, but for Paul Stanley, coming to terms with the end of the band is still a work in progress.

Speaking on the Off The Cupp With S.E. Cupp podcast, the longtime frontman reflected on the farewell tour and what his life looks like now that it’s over. He made it clear that while he misses performing, there was no other choice. “Do I miss being on stage in front of 50,000 people? Hell yeah,” Stanley admitted. “But there’s a difference between missing it and yearning for it. I miss it, but there’s no going back.”

The End of the Road tour wrapped up KISS’s legacy in the way Stanley and Gene Simmons wanted. “We needed to decide when it ends rather than just have it peter out,” Stanley explained. “That wouldn’t be KISS-like.” The band left Madison Square Garden with a spectacle worthy of their 50-year career, closing the book on their time as a touring band.

That also doesn’t mean KISS is completely gone.

Stanley and Simmons sold the KISS brand to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment last year, paving the way for new projects—including an avatar show produced by George Lucas’ team. “The Starchild can live forever,” Stanley said. “But I can’t.”

For Stanley, KISS was never about just standing at a mic and singing—it was about the full experience, the costumes, the energy, the athleticism. He’s at peace with the fact that, physically, it couldn’t last forever. “If I had the luxury of going on stage in street clothes, sure, I could do it forever. But that’s not KISS,” he said.

Life after KISS has been an adjustment, but Stanley has no regrets. “It’s been a year since we played our final show, and yeah, there’s a void,” he admitted. “But that’s life.” Now, he’s focused on what’s next, embracing what he calls QTR—Quality Time Remaining. “At some point, you have to decide how you want to spend the time you have left,” he said. “And I’ve got a lot I still want to do.”

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“Being asked to be the guitarist in Kiss was a career highlight,” former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick tells Guitar Player. “I would be one of the four members onstage, so the pressure was very real. While touring the world with the non-make-up version of Kiss, I knew I had to deliver onstage every night.”

As Ace Frehley’s most successful — and beloved — successor on the electric guitar, Bruce Kulick did deliver, show after show. During his 13 years as Kiss’s primary six-stringer, Kulick — who last year launched his own brand to offer period-correct guitars inspired by his Kiss era — played on six studio albums and two live records. But more importantly, he participated in hundreds of shows while on tour.

We asked him to turn back the clock and reveal his best and worst live moments with the Hottest Band in the Land.

Although I’d grown up in New York City and seen many famous performers at Madison Square Garden, those NYC shows were more of a hometown hero vibe for me. Sort of a ‘look at me now’ to family and friends.

“So, thinking of my best show with Kiss would take me to a very faraway place: across the Pacific Ocean In 1988, during the Crazy Nights tour, Kiss went to Japan, and it was the first time the band had been there without their Kabuki makeup. I was super excited, and it was also my first time out of the United States. My fascination with the Japanese culture — and especially their electronics — was always part of my life. I loved Sony Walkmans, Panasonic boom boxes, Lafayette stereos, and especially ESP Guitars, which Japan was home to!

“Tokyo’s most famous venue is called Nippon Budokan. The arena was created for the first martial arts competition in the 1964 Olympic Games. The Beatles performed there in 1966, but more iconically, it would host Cheap Trick’s fantastic live recording, At Budokan, released in 1978 in the United States. So the name Budokan was forever etched in my brain as somewhere I would love to perform.

“Having said that, when we played there on April 22, 1988, the Japanese fans, who were almost trained to restrain their enthusiasm, showed their love for Kiss! Knowing that this concert was filmed professionally by Japan’s best broadcasting company, NHK, gave me the opportunity to relive the show. They captured the evening’s magic, and my playing was filled with accuracy and emotion.

“My solo in the set meant I had to work the stage running from one side to the other, never stopping riffs from my red ESP Horizon guitar. I played flashy, but with tons of emotion. It felt like I was at my best, and between the venue and the crowd, it’s certainly a career highlight. Possibly my best show ever.”

The Worst

“My worst gig ever would have been a Kiss show in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The religious and political strife in this region of the U.K. was not easily understood by this Brooklyn-born musician. The feeling of danger when arriving in Belfast and seeing the armed police in full force gave me an uneasy feeling.

“The venue we played at was called King’s Hall, and bands like the Beatles, Thin Lizzy and U2 had performed there in previous years. This show would be our last show of the long Crazy Nights tour, taking place on October 3, 1988.

“At the time, I could never really figure out why — and maybe it was due to unrest in the city of Belfast — but the excited fans at King’s Hall were spitting all over us! They were quite gifted at spitting, even reaching my fingerboard, while I was doing my best to play guitar!

“As you can imagine, this was incredibly horrific. I had their spit in my hair and all over my clothes! Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley] suffered as well, though Eric Carr was spared being behind the drum kit.

“Later, we were told that’s how audiences in Ireland express their love for a band — by drenching them in phlegm. Sorry, no, thank you! I was glad when that show ended and happy to return home to America.”

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There’s a perfectly good reason as to why The Beatles remain such an important band in the history of rock and pop music, and why so many acts still look up to them as being the benchmark for incredible songwriting. Where most acts will often boast one incredible songwriter within their ranks or two if they’re lucky, the Beatles arguably had three in John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Their cultural dominance throughout the 1960s meant that most people of a certain age were either brought up on the music of the iconic Liverpudlian group or were first exposed to their music during a formative period of their lives. This meant that countless bands that followed them in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s were still massively influenced by their output, and there are even traces of their identity to be found in the music of acts that one might argue are stylistically distant from their own. Their reputation and significance were inescapable for so long after they’d disbanded, and still lingers on to this day.

You could even argue that acts within the world of hard rock and heavy metal, two genres that one may never directly associate with the Fab Four, were still indebted to the Beatles’ approaches to songwriting. The formula that they established for writing timeless pop songs can still be witnessed in this area, and while the Beatles never really showed this intense edge save for the exception of tracks like ‘Helter Skelter’, slivers of their inventive approach are undoubtedly present.

One act that was decidedly a far cry from the Beatles at first glance but, upon closer inspection, held far more in common than you might initially give them credit for was KISS. Sure, they were a metal act that ran on over-the-top showmanship, heavy guitars and bravado, but they were also arguably a pop act to a degree, and the influence of the Beatles is a significant reason for this. You can even boil their distinctive image of black and white face paint down to having been influenced by the Beatles due to how instantly recognisable they were at all points of their career, so when given a moment’s consideration, the importance of the Beatles to KISS becomes far more apparent.

Bassist and songwriter Gene Simmons has always been vocal about his love of the Beatles, and in a 2024 interview with Classic Rock, he outlined why the band had always been a mainstay of his own listening habits throughout his life. Speaking about Lennon and McCartney’s importance as songwriters, he claimed that the duo had “so many great songs, it’s incredible”, and cited their own individual offerings to the band as always being on par with one another. “For every ‘Eleanor Rigby’,” he began, extolling the virtues of McCartney’s songwriting,“ [for] every ‘Yesterday’, you had ‘Across The Universe’, which is haunting like no other song I’ve ever heard. Even a song that Lennon wasn’t fond of, And Your Bird Can Sing, nobody has ever sounded like that before or after.”

While he noted that Lennon and McCartney were often going toe to toe in their brilliance, their third and less prolific main songwriter, George Harrison, should not be ignored. “Let’s not forget George Harrison,” he proclaimed. “He was supposed to be less talented because he didn’t write ‘All You Need Is Love’ and all those other hits. But then he came up with ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’. So it’s like: ‘Oh, that guy’s a genius too!’”

Harrison might have written comparatively few songs for the band when pitted against his bandmates, but it was rare that they were a disappointment to fans, and many would argue that the few times he was allowed into the spotlight showcased just how much of an asset he was to the group. Given that he readily had a sublime triple album of songs in All Things Must Pass ready for release shortly after the disbandment of the Beatles only goes to demonstrate the genius of Harrison and how understated he was as a member of the group, and ought to be recognised as of equal importance to the two more prolific Beatles.

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At the peak of Kiss‘ popularity in the United States circa 1978, if you were told that in just a few years’ time the band would lose most of its fanbase and were in danger of disappearing into the abyss, it would have been extremely hard to comprehend.

But after Peter Criss and Ace Frehley both exited the band in the early ’80s, and after several albums that failed to impress on the charts, and a lack of touring Stateside, desperate measures had to be taken to keep the USS Kiss afloat.

It turned out that they had a maneuver up their sleeve that managed to rekindle their commercial success: finally doing away with their facial make-up and costumes in time for 1983’s “Lick It Up” album. As a result, the band, which continued to be led by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, continued to perform “unmasked” until 1996.

During an interview for The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, Simmons looked back upon this troubling era of Kiss. And how it was a certain Kiss member’s idea to do away with the gimmick that made the band so successful in the first place.

“So, Peter left,” Simmons recalled (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “We got a new drummer, Eric Carr, who was just fantastic, and tried to come back from [Kiss’ 1980 album] ‘Unmasked’ and, you know, the disco stuff.”

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Awesome belt buckle from 1977. See photos for the awesome condition this one is in. Don’t miss out on this highly sought after vintage item!

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It was “Florida Cold” in Dania Beach on Saturday, with temperatures dropping below 75° Fahrenheit [24°C], sending most to reach for their jackets. In sunny South Florida, we don’t really do cold. It was only fitting, then, that a rock ‘n’ roll legend should fire up the masses and embrace what our state does best: heat. Original KISS member and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ace Frehley did just that on his most recent stop of the 10,000 Volts tour.

Though Stage 954 is not the largest venue the area has to offer, capping its capacity at 999, the KISS Army showed up in full force. Most of the folding seats and bleachers were filled shoulder-to-shoulder with a sea of KISS and Ace shirts, and a good number lingered in the aisles like an impromptu general admission pit.

The crowd held fans from across the state, some driving upward of four hours for the show. Many are regulars, faces that have seen KISS-related shows since the earliest days of the band, and a number of phones were passed around to show off people’s storied history with the band.

In some way, every fan lays claim to a piece of the band’s legacy, from an ‘I was there’ to tales of extreme devotion to half-memories that one could’ve only gotten away with in the ’70s. One fan told me of his wedding in the Las Vegas KISS-themed chapel.

Just after 8 p.m., the lights dimmed, but the energy of the crowd immediately rose. As history (or rather, KISStory) tells, Frehley was electrocuted in December 1976 in Lakeland, Florida, after his guitar touched an ungrounded metal staircase. From the incident, his ‘theme song’ would be born: Shock Me.

It was appropriate, then, to kickstart the show with the song, given its monumental status and its relation to the state. A slight technical offset in the opening track put a momentary pause on the proceedings, but to the delight of the crowd, it meant that we got to hear the iconic Ace theme twice over with a huge boost in power on the second round.

After tearing through early hit Deuce, the band played a track from Frehley’s most recent album, 10,000 Volts, which celebrates its first anniversary this weekend. Though the title track was taken out of the setlist, they played the third single from the record, Cherry Medicine, which complemented Ace’s cherry graphic tee.

“Who doesn’t like a girl in black leather?”

Frehley was all smiles and jokes and was truly interactive with the crowd. He humorously misread “Diana Beach.” His big personality, though polarizing to some, is part of what makes the show a thrill. You never know what he might say.

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In 2025 KISS Army Warehouse is celebrating its 20 Year Anniversary. KISS Asylum is celebrating its 30 Year Anniversary. In celebration of these special anniversary we created these special anniversary guitar picks. The KISS Army Warehouse pick is gold foil on red pearl guitar pick. The KISS Asylum pick is silver foil on black guitar pick. Only 1 run of 200 of these was made of each and they will not be made again.  If you spend $100 on merchandise or more at KISSArmyWarehouse.com we will send you these special anniversary picks for free! Don’t miss out these will go quick!  No code needed!

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