Gene Simmons has now officially announced that the band will finally retire after the final show of the “End of the Road” tour in 2023.
Kiss leave “the ring”
In the case of the Hard Rockers by Kiss, the “end of the road” has always been pushed back. The band’s tour actually began in Vancouver in 2019, but has been going on for almost three years since then due to the pandemic. It was announced that the end of the tour would also mark the end of Kiss. So far there has been no end in sight due to delays and uncertainties, but now Simmons has officially declared the end for 2023 Metal Hammer first reported.
One last time it would go through South America, Europe, Australia, Japan and Mexico, then it would definitely be enough for Simmons and band colleague Paul Stanley. “The last thing you want is to be the guy who stays in the ring for too long and gets beat up,” the Kiss bassist said. “Get out of the ring while you’re a champion,” he added.
Gene Simmons wants to ‘keep pride’
For him, Kiss is the “hardest working band” with their shows they do in “seven to eight inch platform heels and dragon boots, each weighing as much as a bowling ball”. “The whole outfit, studs, leather and armor weighs about 40 pounds. The guitar and cleats alone weigh 12 pounds,” explains Simmons. He goes on to say that other stars like Beyoncé would “pass out after half an hour”.
It’s just time to keep your “pride,” which would include “not staying too long.” In any case, Kiss are surprised that they have now been around for around 50 years, as they had thought “that they would only make it for a few years”.
Simmons concluded that he was “the happiest and most grateful guy in the world to be in a band where I can wear more makeup and higher heels than your girlfriend.”
In the summer there will also be a few final Kiss concerts in Germany, for example in Dortmund and Hamburg. The band had recently made headlines with multiple corona infections, but Gene Simmons also showed solidarity with Ukraine on Twitter and positioned himself with a personal statement against Putin. He recently expressed strong criticism of the new Batman film on Twitter.