During a recent appearance on the Sound Up! podcast with Mark Goodman and Alan Light, Paul Stanley weighed in on the Ace Frehley feud.
“I don’t see a lot of negativity,” the guitarist responded when asked if the negativity around the band fades when he thinks about KISS’s 50-year history. “People talk about the glass half empty or half full. I see it overflowing.”
He added, “I mean, I don’t have any negative memories because everything that happens both happens for a reason and is part of the end result. So, if you’re living with bitterness or anger, it means you haven’t gotten past it. And I have nothing but good things to say about everybody who’s been in the band.”
“And we couldn’t have made it without all of them. Everybody contributed something, and certainly Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer], above everyone else, are the foundation of this. So, whatever spats there have been, or whatever bickering, I put it in perspective. If you win the lottery, you don’t complain about taxes,” Stanley shared.
KISS’ original lineup, including Peter Criss and Frehley, was the most successful, but they left in the early 1980s due to personal issues. Although Criss and Frehley returned in 1996, they left again in the 2000s. Stanley and Gene Simmons have commented on their departures, with Stanley once accusing Frehley of anti-Semitism.
“Ace, and particularly Peter, felt powerless and impotent when faced with the tireless focus, drive, and ambition of me and Gene,” Stanley wrote in his autobiography. “As a result, the two of them tried to sabotage the band — which, as they saw it, was unfairly manipulated by us, money-grubbing Jews.”
In 2023, Frehley told Mark Strigl of SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard that Stanley envied him musically. While discussing his ‘10,000 Volts’ record, he stated, “I’ve been touring without KISS for years. I mean, KISS hasn’t put out an album in what, nine years; I’ve put out five or six.”
“And [my upcoming] album [‘10,000 Volts’] I think is gonna really turn heads. I know Gene’s [Simmons] gonna really like it and tell the press he does like it. I have no idea what Paul Stanley’s gonna say. He usually holds back on any deep praise for me because he’s jealous of me,” Frehley revealed.
KISS ended their career with two final shows in December 2023 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
