KISS frontman Paul Stanley recently opened up about the band’s first farewell tour during a candid conversation on The Magnificent Others, the podcast hosted by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman Billy Corgan. In the episode, Stanley reflected on the 2000-2001 tour that reunited KISS’s original lineup—himself, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss—for what was then billed as the band’s final outing.
Looking back, Stanley didn’t mince words. “Unfortunately, the same problems just started to creep in,” he shared. “In a perfect world, I had hoped that we could get back together. Everybody would learn their life lessons and we’ll walk into the sunset together making music. That story doesn’t exist.”
The guitarist and vocalist described the experience as both “stressful and disappointing,” explaining that the tension stemmed from lingering interpersonal and professional issues that hadn’t been resolved, despite the reunion. “For me it’s all about what goes on on stage. You leave everything at the bottom of the stairs — you leave your problems,” he said. “There have been times where people in the band might not be talking, but you get up on stage and hug and have a great time and make the most of that. Anything that happens beyond the stage is a bonus. So, it was very stressful, and not knowing how we’re gonna be night to night because of people’s indulgences. And that’s not fun.”
Stanley further elaborated on how things gradually unraveled, noting that the breakdown didn’t happen overnight. “Things take such an incremental turn. I don’t think most of the time things fall off a cliff,” he explained. “It just became, sadly, the divide happened.”
When the band first reunited, he recalled a sense of optimism and genuine remorse from some members. “We had some of the guys going, ‘I really f**ked up. I’ll never do that again. I’m so grateful to be here.’ And it truly was the feeling and the sentiment.” But as time passed, old habits returned. “Over time it became, ‘You said you wouldn’t do that again. You’re doing it.’ The resentments that I think were there in the beginning came back.”
Stanley also addressed the broader challenges of collaboration within a band where everyone once had an equal stake. “Everybody in the band was so important to creating it. But when you’re in a car, only one person can drive… You can’t have everybody’s hands on the wheel because ultimately people are pulling ’cause they wanna do different things. So it became politics again.”
Though KISS would eventually launch a second farewell trek—The End of the Road Tour—in 2019, that run did not include Frehley or Criss. Instead, Stanley and Simmons were joined by longtime members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. That final tour concluded with two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in December 2023, with the December 2 concert streaming live on pay-per-view, marking the official end of KISS as a touring band.
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