Edward Pevos | M Live

DETROIT, MI – It’s a rock anthem for Detroit. We talked to Kiss singer/songwriter and guitarist Paul Stanley about how he came to write “Detroit Rock City.”

Stanley and Gene Simmons are the two remaining original members of the Rock and Roll Hall of fame band.

Upcoming Kiss concerts:
Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena on Saturday, August 13 at 8pm.
Saginaw at the Dow Events Center on Monday, August 15 at 7:30pm.
Toledo at the Huntington Center on Wednesday, August 24 at 7:30pm.

About “Detroit Rock City:”
Stanley co-wrote the song which was featured on the band’s 1976 album “Destroyer.” The song did not chart in the U.S., but was popular in Detroit. The b-side, “Beth,” ended up becoming a hit instead. The band reissued the single with “Beth” as the a-side.

Stanley told me the song is not only about Detroit, but about a Kiss fan who died in a car crash on his way to a Kiss concert.

“There had been an accident outside of an arena in Charlotte. Someone was killed coming to the concert. I thought, how odd and how striking and the juxtaposition of someone coming to a Kiss concert, which celebrates being alive, to lose your life. That was the twist of “Detroit Rock City.” To change it from a song about your amazing city to something much more epic.”

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Big Issue

In a candid interview, KISS’ Gene Simmons discusses his family history – and his violent plans as Earth’s ‘benevolent’ dictator

Joyce Lupiani | KTNV

The unique rock ‘n roll themed amusement attraction is based around the world-renowned band KISS. The new location replaces the original location, which closed in February 2016 to make way for the larger attraction at the Rio.

It features an indoor glow-in-the-dark, custom-designed, rockin’ 18-hole miniature golf course, state-of-the-art video and never-seen-before KISS props, arcade games, a special event room for birthdays and etc., a gift shop, hundreds of pieces of KISS memorabilia on display, and a rock ‘n roll wedding chapel with themed wedding packages.

In addition, a live DJ will rock the house with KISS music. There will also be trivia games and contests.

“Our new KISS By Monster Mini Golf location has allowed us to truly turn the volume up to 11 as we have created the most unique rock ‘n roll themed attraction right in the heart of Vegas Rock City,” Christina Vitagliano, CEO/Founder of Monster Mini Golf® and KISS By Monster Mini Golf. “We’re excited to showcase to the world a venue that let’s people celebrate their love for rock ‘n roll with an expanded and newly designed state-of-the-art rockin’ 18-hole mini golf course, new LOVE IT LOUD Wedding Chapel, plus the largest public display of KISS memorabilia in the world.”

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KISS my Wax

Christopher Scapelliti | Guitar Player

Former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the LA Kiss game against the Portland Steel on May 28, and LA Kiss co-owners Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were in attendance. The game was held at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Kulick became the fourth lead guitarist in Kiss when he replaced Mark St. John in 1984. He stayed with the band until 1996, during which time he recorded Asylum, Crazy Nights, Hot in the Shade, Revenge,Alive III, Kiss Unplugged, and Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions.

Prior to joining Kiss, Kulick knew the band through his brother, Bob, a session guitarist who had originally auditioned for the group’s lead guitar spot in 1973. Bruce spoke extensively about his time with Kiss in a recent interview with Joel Gausten.

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Michael Brandvold

Podcast Rock City

Loudwire

Nikki Sixx has been in a war of words with KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in recent weeks. The Motley Crue bassist called out Simmons for his controversial comments on Prince’s death, among other topics, which led to Paul Stanley to defend his KISS bandmate by telling Sixx to “please shut up.”

It all started when Gene Simmons told Newsweek that Prince’s death was pathetic, suggesting that the pop icon killed himself through drug abuse. Sixx then called out Simmons, calling him “an overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown” and criticizing him about other comments he’s made over the years, too. Stanley, who himself lambasted Simmons’ Prince comments, then told Sixx to get off his “self inflated pedestal.”

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Stef Lach | Team Rock

Paul Stanley says it was about time he worked with Ace Frehley again because “life’s too short.”

The Kiss frontman appears on former bandmate Frehley’s solo album Origins Vol.1, singing on a version of Free’s Fire And Water. And in an interview filmed on the set of the video for the track, the pair discuss the collaboration and their relationship.

Stanley tells 95.5 KLOS: “Look, life’s too short, and regardless of whatever differences we will have and continue to have and things that we don’t agree on, there’s no denying what we started together.

“And what we started together is the reason that we’re still here today. So why not celebrate it?”

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Michael Brandvold

Radio.com

One of the silliest beefs in hard rock this year erupted when KISS’ Gene Simmons called Prince’s death “pathetic” and Mötley Crüe bassist and songwriter Nikki Sixx took him to task, suggesting he’s out of touch and should “call it a day.” Then KISS guitarist Paul Stanley chimed in and Sixx commented again. But now Sixx says it’s time to it’s time back off the battlefield before everyone involved loses credibility.

“I think we just kinda look like a bunch of old women fighting at this point,” he told Loudwire.

Sixx added that the war of words spiraled out of control because the press made a new, bold headline out of every comment. “The problem is that sometimes you will say something and the media will take just that 15 seconds and that gets magnified,” he said. “It can get blown out of proportion.”

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Joe Polo

kissmycinema.com

Jason Herndon

This week on KISS My Wax, your co-hosts Jason Herndon, Tom Shannon​, & Andrew Sgambati give you their top 10’s! There’s a ton of interesting things in this week’s episode so be sure to check it out. And participate too!

Gabe Zaldivar | Travel Pulse

“HOLLYWOOD, CA – MAY 18: Musician Gene Simmons attends the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood launch of DC Universe: The Exhibit – featuring the greatest Super Heroes and Super-Villains on May 18, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood)”

The Justice League, Suicide Squad and general comic book merriment is well represented at the upcoming DC Universe: The Exhibit, part of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood. TravelPulse had the opportunity to stop by and witness the exhibit that will open May 24.

Let’s just say our inner nerd was screaming to be let out and play with every last movie prop as if we were Harley Quinn left to her own devices.

Thankfully, we remained composed as we stepped through the doorway and saw firsthand where we have come in terms of national geekdom.

The first items that capture the eye are the giant banners that show the Justice League in its glory. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the gang are there to greet you in image form.

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The Sun

BEFORE the Playboy model wife of Kiss hell-raiser Gene Simmons agreed to marry him after 28 years’ dating, she had one demand.

Shannon Tweed insisted the 66-year-old rocker, who admits to bedding almost 5,000 groupies, must burn his secret collection of sex snaps.

And the bonfire at their home in Los Angeles went on for days.

Gene says: “I didn’t do drugs in the crazy times but I did do sex.

“Did I sleep with 4,800 women?

“So they tell me.

“I did have the Polaroids to prove it, oh yes.

“But most of them were burned.

“Shannon and I got together with them and we had a ritual.”

As the frontman of hard rock band Kiss, Gene has spat blood and breathed fire — daubed in the band’s iconic face paint — for more than four decades.

And with the help of the freakishly long tongue he flashes on stage, he racked up conquests even faster than the band racked up gold albums.

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Belfast Telegraph

Gary Graff | Billboard

Gabriel Olsen

It’s one thing for Paul Stanley to take Kissmate Gene Simmons to task. But woe be to anyone else who wants to do it — and that means you, Nikki Sixx.

With Kiss preparing for the worldwide May 25 screening of its Kiss Rocks Vegas concert film and the early July launch of its summer Freedom To Rock tour, Stanley has been the fulcrum of some pointed social media exchanges during the past week. He took Simmons to task on Twitter for some derogatory interview comments the bassist made about Prince‘s death, calling them “cold, clueless statements.” Simmons subsequently apologized via Twitter. But when Sixx later slammed Simmons as a “bully” and claiming that “nobody in rock” respects him, Stanley posted a sharply worded Facebook retort calling Sixx’s comments an “unimportant but annoying squeak” and directing him to “please shut up, find another way to be in the news and get off your self inflated pedestal.”

Nikki Sixx Calls Gene Simmons an ‘Overrated, Lucky Guy’ After Controversial Prince Comment

“It’s just silly stuff, honestly,” Stanley tells Billboard. “It’s one thing to call somebody out and to have a point of view on somebody’s quotes, but then to just harp on it…You have to be suspect of the motives. Whatever questions I have about things that Gene has said is one thing, but to beat him into the ground becomes self-serving. It just gets annoying. For other people to harp on it and beat it into the ground is not something I want to sit by and listen to. When somebody starts to denigrate or take potshots at your contributions or your band or anything else, when you consider the source it gets to be ludicrous.”

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Radio.com

Paul Kane

Paul Stanley has one more thing to say about the roundabout beef between himself, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and KISS bandmate Gene Simmons.

It all started when Simmons made some tasteless comments about Prince’s death, calling the late artist “pathetic,” for killing himself through drug use.  Simmons later backpedaled from those comments andapologized.

Stanley chastised Simmons for those comments, but then Nikki Sixx weighed in, slamming Simmons, and disavowing him as a personal hero.

Stanley did not take kindly to the take down, posting a lengthy rebuttaldefending Simmons.

“It’s just silly stuff, honestly,” Stanley says in a new interview withBillboard. “It’s one thing to call somebody out and to have a point of view on somebody’s quotes, but then to just harp on it…You have to be suspect of the motives. Whatever questions I have about things that Gene has said is one thing, but to beat him into the ground becomes self-serving. It just gets annoying.”