In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Gene Simmons opened up about KISS’ farewell tour. The rocker reflected on his ‘brother-like’ relationship with Paul Stanley that sadly Paul McCartney and John Lennon didn’t have; he said:
“The best part was when I ran into my buddy Paul Stanley; we continue to have this astonishing relationship. I’ve always been so sad when [John] Lennon and [Paul] McCartney and [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards started backbiting; it was always so sad to me, but Paul and I have this resilient sort of brother I never had, kind of a thing.”
Simmons shared that Paul Stanley has the talent that he couldn’t bring to the band. The rocker explained:
“We don’t agree on very much at all, but there’s an abiding admiration and respect for his talent that I will never have and, hopefully, the piece of the puzzle that I bring to it that he doesn’t know, so it just 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.”
Regarding the farewell tour, Gene explained that the day to say goodbye to the stage had to come. He expressed:
“At any rate, to cut to the chase, all good things have to come to an end. 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.”
The rocker had previously talked to ‘The Sunday Project’ about retiring on top and even criticized certain bands for not knowing when to step away from the stage. He revealed why it was time for KISS to walk away by saying:
“At a certain time, you’ve gotta have the dignity and pride but also the love and admiration of your fans to know when it’s time to call it quits. We’ve all seen boxers that stay in the ring too long, and we’ve all seen bands that stay on the stage too long… So we’re going to quit while the quitting’s good, while we’re on top.”
You can watch Gene Simmons’ interview with Piers Morgan below.
