KISS frontman Paul Stanley slammed the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame during a halftime speech at the LA KISS arena football league home game in Anaheim, California on Saturday, and fan-shot video from the event is available.
“I want you to know something…in case you didn’t know already,” Stanley told the crowd. “The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame hates us. You gotta know that when it takes 14 years to get invited to a party, they don’t want you at the party. But YOU insisted … YOU demanded … and they had no choice.”
“This is your award,” he continued, holding up his Rock Hall trophy. “Nobody sitting behind a desk with a suit and tie is gonna tell you what rock and roll is. You are the ones who decide and we honor you. And it is my pleasure and my privilege to say thank you for this award.”
Stanley’s halftime speech at the LA KISS game (which he co-owns with bandmate Gene Simmons and others) was to celebrate the band’s recent Rock Hall induction and to promote his newly-published memoir, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed”, which debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times "Hardcover Nonfiction" best sellers list.
A pre-game event gave fans the opportunity to have their picture taken with Stanley’s Rock Hall trophy, and those who brought a copy of his book could get it signed by the rocker.
Stanley and Simmons have long maintained a fractured relationship with the music industry insiders who run both Rolling Stone and the Rock Hall, and have always questioned the validity of both brands.
Following the band’s April 10th induction at a ceremony in New York, the pair unleashed an attack on both entities and, specifically, Rock Hall co-founder and Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, over their alleged treatment at the event.
“Our treatment at the RRHOF confirmed my worst suspicions,” tweeted Stanley the day after. “Wenner and the rest are spineless weasels.”
The singer continued his rant the following day, writing, “@JannWenner & his RRHOF made sure to treat us as uninvited guests. No passes. No schedule and on. We were great and he remains a small man.”
Read more details about the controversy here.
Following a KISS video montage, Stanley’s speech begins at 4:10 in the video below.
See also:
KISS: Paul Stanley memoir debuts on New York Times Best Sellers List
KISS tops the hennemusic Hot 10
AUDIO: Ace Frehley’s pre-KISS band acetate demo surfaces
KISS: Ace Frehley criticizes Paul Stanley’s Rock Hall induction speech
Search KISS at hennemusic
