[Original KISS line-up: Peter Criss, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley]
After years of being snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, the band KISS was finally announced as one of this year’s inductees. Quickly, fans wondered which line-up of KISS, which has seen plenty of band members come and go and come back again since their first release in 1974, would perform at the induction ceremony. As it turns out, KISS won’t be performing at the event at all.
The band released a statement today via their official sites announcing their intention not to play with any line-up at the ceremony. The news comes after original guitarist Ace Frehley, who hasn’t been in KISS since they completed their “farewell” tour in 2002, revealed fellow KISS co-founders — Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley — did not want to perform with the original line-up, which would also include drummer Peter Criss. Instead, he said, Simmons and Stanley were opting to play with KISS in its current incarnation, which includes guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, both of whom currently perform respectively as Frehley’s and Criss’s onstage characters, the “Spaceman” and the “Catman.”
It was Frehley’s revelation, which was made during an
interview on Friday night on the “Eddie Trunk Rocks” radio show on New York’s Q104.3 FM, that prompted the band’s official statement today, in which they claim that they “have never refused to play with Ace and Peter,” but because of all the controversy, they’ve decided not to perform at all.
KISS’s claim might actually be true – on a technicality – as Frehley also mentioned that he would not appear on stage alongside Thayer, who’d be wearing his original “Spaceman” make-up:
According to Frehley, Stanley and Simmons “shot down doing any type of reunion with [original KISS drummer Peter Criss and me] — with makeup, without makeup,” while Frehley himself ruled out performing alongside KISS’ current lineup, saying, “I’m not gonna get on the stage with Tommy wearing my makeup. That’s absurd.”
He added: “It’s a shame. I know [the original lineup reunion is] what the fans wanted. I know it’s what the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame wanted. [But] it’s not gonna happen.”
But Simmons has gone on record several times recently to say he had no interest in ever playing again with Frehley and Criss, who he likened to being like ex-wives, as well as cancer, stating that his former bandmates had exhausted their chances to play with him.
The Rock Hall wanted the original line-up to appear, according to Frehley, who added that they suggested that Frehley could perhaps perform with guest musicians, an idea he alludes was also turned down by Simmons and Stanley, who have controlling interest over KISS:
“I’m at the tail end of [making my new solo] record… and this has just been a thorn in my side, because every day there’s a different story: ‘Yeah, maybe you can come and get up and do ‘New York Groove’. And if you don’t do it with KISS, you can do it with a celebrity lineup.’ And that was shot down. It’s very frustrating. It’s also distracting my attention from the most important thing right now that I’m doing, [which] is working on music and creating. So it’s very frustrating and a little disheartening.”
Frehley also said that if he’s not performing, he might not even show up to be inducted:
And the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was very excited about having the four original members who are being inducted to perform at the ceremony. And that was shot down by Paul and Gene. And now it’s kind of, like, if I’m not gonna put on the makeup and do a three-song reunion for the fans, then what am I gonna do? And right now I’m not even sure if I’m gonna show up for that, you know?!”
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