GENE SIMMONS: PAUL STANLEY And I 'Continue To Have This Astonishing Relationship'

During a recent appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored", Gene Simmons was asked how he really feels about KISS retiring from the road at the end of 2023 when he and his bandmates play the final shows of their "End Of The Road" farewell tour. The KISS bassist/vocalist responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I really feel proud. The best part was when I ran into my buddy Paul Stanley [KISS guitarist/vocalist] who, we continue to have this astonishing relationship. And I've always been so sad when Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards started backbiting. I mean, even Cain and Abel didn't get along so well. It was always so sad to me. But Paul and I have this resilient, sort of the brother-I-never-had kind of a thing. And we don't agree on very much at all, but there's an abiding admiration and respect for the talent that he has that I will never have and hopefully the piece of the puzzle that I bring to it that he doesn't have. It works. One and one is three. You don't know everything. I don't. And when you meet somebody that's a kindred spirit, you can run and be bigger than you ever were."

He continued: "At any rate, to cut to the chase, all good things have to come to an end and you have to have the self-respect and pride — that's a big word — and the love of the fans to know when the hell it's time to get off that stage… And it's tough to give it up; this kind of admiration is godlike. But at any rate, when you still look good, when you still have the physicality it takes to do that, get off the stage. By the way, it goes for boxers too. Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, who's a friend, and so on, these are the greats of all time. And you've got to know when it's time to know when it's time to [leave the party]."

KISS's final runs of shows will kick off this September and will wrap up with a massive concert in the city where it all began for the legendary rock act. New York City has been a part of the band's ethos and storyline for more than four decades, so they felt it fitting to culminate an iconic Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-worthy career on stage at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to late 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".

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.