PAUL STANLEY Says KISS Can ‘Absolutely’ Continue Without Him And GENE SIMMONS

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Paul Stanley has once again said that he believes KISS can carry on without any original members.

More than a year ago, the legendary rockers launched their second farewell tour, dubbed “End Of The Road”, which is scheduled to end in July 2021. Joining founding members Stanley and Gene Simmons in the band’s current lineup are Tommy Thayer on guitar and Eric Singer on drums. Thayer and Singer are replacements for original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively.

Asked by Sioux City Journal whether he thinks KISS could one day exist without him and Simmons, Stanley said: “There was a time when people said, ‘KISS has to be the original four members.’ Well, those people are 50 percent wrong. And all of this is conjecture. I’m not walking away from what Gene and I have built over 45 years. I’m of the mindset that teams don’t fold because their star pitcher or star hitter is gone. There’s an amazing pool of talent out there. Can it continue? Absolutely.”

It was back in 2005 that KISS manager Doc McGhee first told the New York Times that the group had “been toying with the idea of recruiting an entire band to don the band’s famous makeup.” McGhee said: “KISS is more like Doritos or Pepsi, as far as a brand name is concerned. They’re more characters than the individual person. I think [new members] have a legitimate chance to carry the franchise.”

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KISS’s Manager Hints Band Might Continue Without Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley

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Kiss‘s ‘End of the Road’ tour is just that for the band’s remaining co-founders, front man Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons.

Fans have been understandably skeptical of Kiss’s current farewell tour after the band’s previous one 20 years ago didn’t stick. Longtime manager Doc McGhee says he’s certain Stanley and Simmons are truly ready to say goodbye at the band’s final show on July 17, 2021 in New York City.

“I doubt things will ever change, but s–t happens all the time,” McGhee told Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon. “But from what we believe, today, this is the end of the road, certainly for Gene and Paul.”

McGhee added — to no one’s surprise — that Kiss, as a brand, isn’t going anywhere. The band plans to maintain its pop culture presence with more Kiss content, like “movies, Broadway shows, whatever? Everybody’s talking about them… As far as a touring base, as far as going out and doing shows, no. There’s not going to be any tours with Gene and Paul. In essence, that’s the end of the road for Gene and Paul for sure.”

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PAUL STANLEY Says He Loves GENE SIMMONS’s ‘Heart’: ‘He’s A Great Guy’

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On January 22, KISS frontman Paul Stanley was interviewed by Eric Blair of “The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show” at the grand opening of the Rock & Brews restaurant in Tustin, California. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked what the best part is of having David Lee Roth opening for KISS‘s “End Of The Road” tour, Stanley said: “Well, Dave‘s got so many great songs. All the VAN HALEN catalog is terrific, and that’s what he’s doing. So, people get to hear all those great songs, and it was something that really appealed to us.”

Questioned about what he loves the most about his KISS bandmate Gene Simmons, Paul said: “I happen to love his heart. He’s a great guy, and in spite of what other people might think, or what he projects to people, or some of the things he says, he’s been my brother for 50 years, and he’s family.”

Stanley also talked about why he thinks the music of KISS and the image of KISS has stood the test of time. He said: “I think musically, it’s because we never preached. And what we’ve done is really timeless. When you sing about self-empowerment and when you sing about believing in yourself and succeeding on your own terms, that’s timeless. We’re not singing about saving the whales. There’s a lot of causes that are great. Interestingly, I think some people miss the whole point that some of the most important things that could be said are the simplest. And that’s what we do. We also try to make sure that everybody is included in our shows. You have young, young people; you have people in their 70s, 80s. And the look, it’s just a way of saying to people that you can’t always look like us, but you can feel like us. So, I can give it a lot of analyses, but at the end of the day, it’s worked.”

 

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Desmond Child Talks About Writing Hits For KISS, Bon Jovi and More

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If you bought any records from KISS, Bon Jovi, or Aerosmith and read the songwriting credits the name Desmond Child always popped up. Desmond Child has been the man behind the scenes writing hit songs such as Aerosmith “Angel”, KISS “I was made for lovin’ you, Bon Jovi “Living on a prayer”. He has had a career now spanning 5 decades and numerous hits and number one songs. Desmond Child has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. Last October he released a live album Desmond Child Live he has finished writing his biography Livin’ on a prayer Big songs, Big Life to be released later this year and has plans on putting out new music and do live shows. It is good to be a Desmond Child fan these days with a lot of things to look forward to. I had an opportunity to talk to Desmond Child about everything from writing with Paul Stanley to details about his book and live album.

Angel Alamo: How did you come up with the idea to do the live album (Desmond Child Live) that you just released?

Desmond Child: Desmond Child Live. After many, many years of not performing, because the last time I was performing was with my group Desmond Child and Rouge back in the late 70’s. I decided to do a show of my own. Which was actually the first time I’ve ever done a show that was me, a solo show. It’s the first time I was ever performing and I wanted… I’m back in New York City where I started out and I found this gorgeous little club called Feinstein’s/54 Below. Which is underneath the original Studio 54 but I think down there that was kind of like orgy room or where everyone took drugs and stuff originally. But now it’s a very chic club and I brought together a lot of my friends and musicians that I had played with during the years and Desmond Child and Rouge with Maria Vidal, Miriam Valle and Diana Grasselli.

Desmond Child: I had a ball. We performed over three nights. Lena Hall sang her jazz song, “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and Justin Benlolo a young, new talent, he’s 22 years old, sang some of the songs that were too high for me to sing. Like, “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”, and “You Give Love a Bad Name”, “How Can We Be Lovers?”. He did the heavy lifting and I sang more like the ballady kind of songs and we just had a ball. I’m very proud of the record. Turned out great. And we also did a version of that show on PBS, a show called Live at the Kate so I had some different guest artists on that. Deborah Cox and Amanda Gonzalez from Hamilton came up and sang. I’ve just been getting out there with music. After this live album, I’m going to be releasing singles on BMG, which is my label, that are duets stars that I’ve worked with. My first ones with Alice Cooper.

Desmond Child: We’re going to be putting that out in April and I’m just going to keep dropping music. And the whole music business has had a system where it’s like, you make an album and then you release it, up-tempo songs, your first single. Hoping it’s catchy and then maybe leads people to buying the record. And I think all bets are off now because the way the Spotify space works, you can record a song that day and release it that night and it’s very egalitarian.

Desmond Child: I love that and it’s a very different world and you don’t have to worry about genres and this and that. You can just put out your music and make your own genre, make your own market. And so it’s been very exciting to be free of the way it used to be. That’s why I waited so long, it was so daunting to get a record deal then you wait a year for finally your record to come out and then if it doesn’t test well then you’re dropped from the label. All of that stuff. I think the way it is now, artists can just grab their careers into their own hands and make things happen.

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