KISS guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley discussed his adjustment to life after the band’s “End Of The Road” farewell tour, which concluded over a year ago, during a recent appearance on the debut episode of the “Stories To Tell With Richard Marx” podcast..
“There are people who are touring constantly because they’re empty and because they need that audience positive response. Years ago for me, probably decades ago, that may have been the case,” Stanley said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “At this point, it’s been incredibly gratifying. The last tour was just a chance to really take in how valuable and how much this meant to me. But I couldn’t keep doing it any more than Michael Jordan could.
“I’ve always been more than a musician or performer — I’ve been an athlete — and you realize that you can only do that so long. I’ve been blessed to do it into my 70s, which if you told me that 50 years ago, I’d say you’re out of your mind. So, yeah, I miss it, but I don’t crave it. I think the people who really crave it are the ones who don’t find other means for gratification either from other people or self-gratification, whether it’s, for me, painting or my family or friends.
“I think ultimately, hopefully, I would hope that most people find that in life, at some point, you start to narrow down what’s really important,” he continued. “And ultimately, what’s important is family, friends and how you feel about yourself. You face yourself every day when those crowds aren’t there. It doesn’t matter whether there’s 20,000 or 100,000 people, if you don’t like who you see in the mirror, it’s kind of meaningless.