KISS frontman Paul Stanley is sharing his thoughts on the use of KISS makeup by non-original band members.
The group has taken heat through the years for current replacement players Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer’s use of original makeup designs by original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
Now, Stanley admits mistakes were made in the past but that KISS will move forward with the band’s original characters.
"I think where we went astray is when we first replaced Peter and we decided we needed a new character,” Stanley tells Joe Rogan of The Joe Rogan Experience. “And the problem with that kind of stuff is that it started to become — interestingly, I think — disingenuous. It took an air of 'fake' in the sense that it became a menagerie. I mean, we had a Fox [Eric Carr] and an Egyptian Warrior [Vinnie Vincent]. Next we would have the Turtle Boy and The Frog Man.”
“So I think once we brought Ace and Peter back for the reunion tour,” he continued, “which I hoped would go on forever… In other words, I hoped that everybody would get back together, everybody would see the error in their ways and we would move forward and stay together forever.”
“But when that wasn't to be, I thought, you know, we really built these four images. And, arguably, you can go anywhere in the world and people know who KISS is, regardless of whether they know who those people are. So to give up that because we found that those guys were no longer either capable or wanted to give it a hundred percent, well, then who loses out? The fans. So, no. Those images are the images that will continue when I'm not here either."
Stanley and KISS will play their first Las Vegas residency this fall.
“KISS Rocks Vegas” will see the band perform 9 shows at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino between November 5 and 23.
See also:
Gene Simmons announces book tour
VIDEO: Gene Simmons eats food off floor at Los Angeles airport
Gene Simmons to appear on The Big Interview with Dan Rather
Ace Frehley announces fall US tour
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