GENE SIMMONS On KISS’s Farewell Tour: ‘This Tour Is The End Of The Road For The Band, Not The Brand’

In a new interview with Dan Savoie of 519 magazine, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke about the band’s “End Of The Road” farewell tour, which is scheduled to conclude in early December in New York City. He said: “This tour is the end of the road for the band, not the brand. KISS is a universe of its own — movies, merchandise, maybe even Broadway. The band will end, but the KISS experience… it’s immortal.” He then clarified: “It’s the end of touring.”

Simmons went on to detail some of the ways in which the KISS brand will be kept alive.

“KISS will continue,” he said. “There’s a KISS museum in Las Vegas at the Rio called KISS World, and oh my goodness, we have KISS cruises, a movie coming out, and we’re working on a cartoon show, a lot of stuff. And of course, all the fun toys and games that will continue.”

As for the future of KISS performances, he said: “The KISS show will live on in different ways. Yes, that’s being planned. It’ll also be four to ten different travelling shows. So, you’ll be able to be in Japan and have Japanese actors, musicians being us, and at the same time you could go to Vegas or New York or London.”

Earlier this year, KISS‘s longtime manager Doc McGhee said that a biopic based on the band’s early years is tentatively scheduled to hit Netflix in 2024. McGhee also said that while Gene and fellow KISS co-founder Paul Stanley are ending KISS as a touring entity, he didn’t see it as the end of the brand, which he compared to the Marvel universe. “Will there be other forms of KISS maybe in the future after I’m gone and after they’re gone?” he told “The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn” show. “I don’t see that KISS goes away.”

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“End Of The Road” was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band’s classic song “Detroit Rock City” on “America’s Got Talent”.