Gene Simmons is out here licensing the KISS logo onto everything from coffins to lunchboxes. Paul Stanley’s still out here throwing down nightly like he’s 25.
But behind all the fireworks, kabuki makeup, and tongue-wagging madness. There’s this story. And it’s heavy. During a recent chat on Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton podcast, Gene Simmons started reflecting on the final KISS concert ever.
December 2nd, 2023 at Madison Square Garden, was the end of KISS as a live band. And Gene? He got personal. Real personal. Gene was talking about the original lineup — Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, the heart and soul of early KISS , the guys who were just as crucial as Gene and Paul.
But when things went south. Ace straight-up looked Gene Simmons in the eye and dropped the darkest line imaginable for a rock star. Ace Frehley was never just “the lead guitarist” in KISS , he was an integral part of the band. But by the early ’80s, the wheels were falling off. Substance abuse, personal issues, feeling trapped inside the KISS, it all hit a boiling point. Gene and Paul were offering Ace a deal that sounds ridiculous on paper. But Ace? He just couldn’t do it. He didn’t want more money. He didn’t want more fame. He wanted out.
Asked if he felt any differently on stage, knowing it was the last KISS concert, Gene said: “Very emotional. Pride, but also a little sad because… People who have been married, I’m guessing, a few times, but remember when it was real love and that magic of the thing, if it doesn’t last, there’s a sadness there. Sometimes it’s drugs and alcohol, sometimes they just go apart. But when it was great, it’s sad because not everybody survives life. And I’m still sad about Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], who even today can’t enjoy the fruits of their labor. They were equally as important as Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] and myself in the formation of the band and those first few years — there’s no question about it. It was a four-wheel-drive vehicle. And then the air started coming out of two of the wheels to the point where — as a matter of fact, when it was time for Peter to go, Ace voted, ‘No, he’s gotta go. He can’t play the drums anymore.’ And then Ace, using his words, walked out of KISS. Even though we said, ‘You can stay in KISS. Have a solo career. We don’t want a penny of it. Have your cake and eat it too.’ And he said to my face, ‘No, I can’t stay in the band. He said it in print, ‘If I do another tour, I’m gonna kill myself.’ That’s verbatim. And I didn’t understand what that meant. I didn’t wanna get into it. And then he said, ‘You watch. I’m gonna sell 10 million records.’ I can’t respond to that. I don’t know what that meant. Logically — stay in the band, have your cake and eat it too.”
