KISS bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons recently opened up on Ace Frehley and Peter Criss’ health condition. He noted that they wouldn’t physically be able to play a full concert on the iconic group’s final tour. KISS’s longtime manager Doc McGhee also recently talked about Ace Frehley and Peter Criss and if they are believed to take part in the iconic group’s final concert.
Recently, the original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley canceled all of his previously announced summer 2022 European festival appearances as per the reports. It includes the Czech Republic’s Masters Of Rock and United Kingdom’s Steelhouse Festival. The promoters of the shows have cited the reason to be ‘unforeseen circumstances.’
Gene Simmons opens up on them
KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic. It was noted that “End Of The Road” was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, last year in New York City but has since been extended to at least early 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band’s classic song “Detroit Rock City” on “America’s Got Talent”.
In a new interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, Simmons was asked if Frehley and Peter will have any involvement in KISS’s final concert. He responded:
“We’ve tried. I keep trying. Paul and I met with Ace, trying to convince him to come back. He said, ‘I want this. I want that.’ Well, we can’t do that. I asked Ace and Peter to be in the documentary [‘Biography: KISStory’, which premiered on A&E in June 2021]. They said no. They might do it if they have complete control of the edit. I said, ‘We can’t do that, because even we don’t have that. But I won’t control what you say; you can say whatever you want.’ The answer is no — both of them. I asked Ace and Peter, ‘Come out on tour. We’ll get you your own room and everything. Come out on the encores.’ Ace said, ‘No. The only way I’ll come out is if I’m the Spaceman and you ask Tommy [Thayer, KISS’s current guitarist] to leave.’ I go, ‘Well, that’s not gonna happen.’ First of all, I care about Ace, but he’s not in shape — he can’t play that way and doesn’t have the physical stamina to do that…”
KISS’s current lineup consists of original members Simmons and Stanley, alongside later band additions, Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).
