As the ‘End of the World Tour’ inches toward its finale, KISS’ Gene Simmons has been keeping the fans updated through new interviews. In a recent conversation with Daily Distraction’s Chris Killian, he opened up about the band’s impact, focusing especially on Dimebag Darrell.
The topic started when the bassist was asked whether the late Pantera guitarist was buried in a KISS casket, to which he answered:
“That is true. Dimebag had Ace [Frehley] tattooed on his chest. Tragically he was killed onstage by a lunatic who shot him in the head. Dime’s family reached out. And I had a few KISS caskets, different kinds. And I actually sent one from my collection, and he was indeed buried in a KISS casket, yeah.”
He then talked about how KISS has had a big impact on the rock music industry, sharing a story from Tom Morello:
“Kirk Hammett cut his teeth on KISS records, and that’s Metallica. And Dime was in Pantera. But it runs the gamut… You know, at a certain point, when you’re 13 or whatever, and you’re a guy in the middle of nowhere…
Tom Morello did our acceptance speech or the introduction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and his story, actually, was very inspiring about being a kid in the middle of America, not having enough things to inspire him or get him thinking about other possibilities and stuff. And he started talking about KISS and about how getting those records wasn’t just how to play guitar and get up on stage, but opening up the ideas of imagination, the visual sense of things.”
Simmons also expressed his joy at the band’s influence on younger generations and said:
“And I’ve met all sorts of people, not just rockers and so on, but people from different walks of life who say, ‘This was important to me in my childhood.’ And listen, that’s the biggest… It’s not so much that they’re celebrities, but it’s a good piece in my heart. But I will tell you, nothing — and I mean nothing — competes with a five-year-old kid who lives, breathes, and eats KISS.
When you see a five-year-old kid in KISS makeup sitting on the shoulders of his father, who’s got his own makeup on, next to his father, who’s 50 or 60 years old, and they’re all rocking out at the show, and when the kid finally [flashes the ‘devil’s horns’ hand gesture], it doesn’t get better.“
In a different interview with The Sun in May, the KISS bassist discussed his band’s influence again. At that time, he compared KISS to other bands like U2 and Radiohead to look into the band’s position in pop culture.
His words read:
“I love U2 and Radiohead, but our imagery supersedes all that. We’ve become part of pop culture, for good or bad. People might hate us, but when Halloween comes by, you’ll see all the Kiss costumes at parties. There are huge Kiss floats at carnivals in Brazil — but nobody is dressed up like Thom Yorke!”
KISS’ farewell tour is getting close to the end as they are heading to Europe this June. The tour that started in 2019 will be finished in New York on December 2023.
