Paul Stanley on Ex-Kiss Members Appearing on Farewell Tour: ‘I Wouldn’t Rule Anything Out’
Last week, KISS confirmed they would be heading out on a long-rumored farewell tour in 2019. Now, in a new interview, Paul Stanley has addressed whether any former members of the band would be making appearances during the trek.
“I really can’t say,” the frontman tells Rolling Stone. “This will be a celebration of KISS and not any individual lineup or any individual members. I wouldn’t rule anything out but it’s not the crux of what we’re doing...and I’m not being coy either. I don’t want to mislead anybody, really that’s not something that’s been given a lot of thought at this point, the majority of our time has gone into what is the stage going to be, what is the show going to be, and we’re actually in the midst of toying with setlists now.”
Stanley's comments come in the wake of bandmate Gene Simmons' recent solo events to promote his box set collection The Vault, where he has been joined onstage by ex-KISS members Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and even long out of the spotlight former guitarist Vinnie Vincent.
One thing, according to Stanley, is certain: the upcoming End of the Road World Tour will be the last outing for KISS, unlike their farewell tour that began in 2000 and ended in 2001. A scant two years later the band was back on the road. The guitarist explained why this time is different from back then.
“Let’s put it into perspective and try to at least get a sense of what’s different,” he says. “The farewell tour took place 19 years ago. The farewell tour was at the end of the time that we had brought back the two original members [Frehley and Criss] and it was such drudgery and so difficult and so unhappy that it just seemed like ‘let’s put the horse down.’ And after the tour was over, it didn’t take me very long to realize I didn’t want to say goodbye to the band; I wanted to say goodbye to two members. So that was the differences. We’ve had 19 years of the band. The band has never been better, happier…But with all that in mind, it’s time to think about an end.”
The official KISS website currently says, "More details coming soon" regarding the tour. There are also options to sign up for pre-sale access and being the first to know when more information is available.
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