Gene Simmons has no doubt that KISS quit touring at the right time.
During an appearance on NewsNation’s The Hill with Blake Burman on Wednesday, the legendary rocker reflected on the band’s End of the Road World Tour, which ran from 2019 until 2023.
While fans keep asking the surviving KISS members to tour again, Simmons insisted that the group was able to bow out “gracefully”.
“You’ve got to know when to gracefully and proudly step off that stage because you have to understand that KISS was and continues to be the only band of its type,” he said. “Every show I had to spit fire… fly through the air, keep my tongue out all the time… Wear 70 pounds (31 kilograms), as much as that, or as little as 50 to 60 pounds (22-26 kilograms) of armour, studs, guitars, and all on seven-inch platformed boots for two hours. It’s exhausting.”
Simmons went on to joke that he’s looking even better now than when he was trekking the globe.
“I’m 77 now, and boy, do I look good,” the musician laughed. “But you’ve got to know – you’ve got to respect the fans enough to know when to get off that stage.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Simmons emphasised that there’s still lots of exciting projects in development for KISS, including an avatar show and a documentary about their final-ever tour.
The film is set to debut on the band’s website on 19 November.
“With unprecedented access to KISS’s historic End of The Road World Tour, KISS: End of The Road chronicles the final live chapter of one of rock’s most legendary bands, capturing the camaraderie, conflicts, challenges and emotion behind their journey to one last performance at Madison Square Garden, while also exploring how the band plans to carry its legacy forward in the years ahead,” a press release reads.
