“You’ve Got to Respect the Fans”: Gene Simmons Says KISS Knew When to Stop Touring

Gene Simmons always knew KISS couldn’t go on forever. During an appearance NewsNation’s The Hill with Blake Burman, the KISS frontman opened up about the band’s decision to cease touring as they once did.

“A farmer who grows fruit, the smart ones always know when to pick the fruit when it’s ripe, because if it’s too early, the fruit is sour. You don’t get a good price. When it’s too late, it becomes rotten. You can’t sell it anyway,” Simmons said. “You’ve got to know when to gracefully and proudly step off that stage.”

Simmons went on to note that KISS “was and continues to be the only band of its type.”

“Every show I had to spit fire… fly through the air, keep my tongue out all the time. I would do that except the floor is a little dirty,” he said. “Wear [up to] 70 pounds… of armor, studs, guitars, and all on seven inch, platformed boots for two hours. It’s exhausting.”

Now 77, Simmons said he, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, realized that they had to “respect the fans enough to know when to get off that stage.”

Gene Simmons Discusses KISS

That was an important decision for the group, who’d always aimed to be different than other bands.

“KISS is a very peculiar band. We were four knuckleheads off the streets of New York with no resume, it bears noting. No plan, no experience, nothing,” Simmons said. “We had a very strange idea. Let’s put together the band we never saw on stage.”

“All of us get sick and tired of seeing performers on stage who you feel like they’re doing you a favor,” he continued. “They look at their shoes. In our day when people were still rubbing sticks together to get fire going, performers used to wear tie-dyed T-shirts and charge full concert prices for strumming an acoustic guitar.”

By contrast, KISS “wanted to just have bombast.”

“People said, ‘This band makes a complete spectacle out of themselves.’ You’re damn right we do,” Simmons said. “Every show, give people bang for the buck.”

The interview came as Simmons is promoting End of the Road. The documentary, which chronicles the band’s farewell tour, will be released on Nov. 19.

Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

The post “You’ve Got to Respect the Fans”: Gene Simmons Says KISS Knew When to Stop Touring appeared first on American Songwriter.