NEED TO KNOW
Paul Stanley felt “betrayed” by KISS bandmate Gene Simmons in the 1980s
Simmons pursued an acting career while the band was working on Asylum
“I felt that he was leaving me to do the heavy work,” Stanley said
KISS rocker Paul Stanley is reflecting on a rough patch the band dealt with in the 1980s, when bandmate Gene Simmons put his energy toward other projects.
Stanley, 73, opened up about the sense of betrayal he felt in the mid-1980s, when KISS was working on the album Asylum and Simmons, 75, was pursuing a film career.
“I felt betrayed. No secret, I felt that he was leaving me to do the heavy work but continued to get paid, so, you know, trying to have the best of both worlds,” he said on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast on Wednesday, June 18. “Go off and do your own thing and have the success at any level that there was success, and the monetary compensation, which I’m not sharing in, but you’re abandoning ship and you’re still my partner.”
While it’s all water under the bridge between the two musicians now, Stanley said he felt “very resentful and hurt” by Simmons’ behavior, which resulted in him having to step up to provide stability for the band.
The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan/YouTube
Paul Stanley on The Magnificent Others
“Gene’s my brother, he’s been with me since I was 17. So that was really difficult,” he said on the podcast. “But again it was, ‘Well screw it, I’m not gonna let this band fall apart.’ If it’s my band in that sense, then so be it… But yeah, I felt that he was selling the band short… I thought he wasn’t playing fair.”
Stanley and Simmons have been playing together since the early 1970s, first in a group called Wicked Lester, and then eventually in KISS, with whom they released their first album in 1974.
In the 1980s, Simmons distanced himself a bit from the group and pursued other projects, including an acting career. He appeared in the 1984 thriller Runaway, and the 1987 action flick Wanted: Dead or Alive. He also produced several albums for other artists around that time.
In his 2014 memoir Face the Music: A Life Exposed, Stanley lamented the times Simmons would show up to the studio “exhausted” while the group was working on their 1985 album Asylum after “being up all night with some third-rate band he was producing.” He wrote that when he told Simmons he felt betrayed, the rocker responded, “Well, you can go do things, too,” though Stanley felt a responsibility to keep KISS active and thriving.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley perform in February 2019 in Inglewood, Calif.
At the time of the book release, Stanley spoke to Mojo about that time period in KISS’s history, and said he felt “a lot of anger and resentment at everybody’s lack of focus.”
“Ultimately, I felt a sense of betrayal by Gene. The other people I could understand, but Gene was the person I depended on for ethics and commitments and as far as I was concerned he betrayed me and the band,” he said. “His sense of entitlement was bulls— and it was beyond annoying to me… It was such a slap in the face.”
KISS retired from touring in December 2023 after one final show at Madison Square Garden. In March, the band announced they’ll be performing an unmasked set in Las Vegas as part of the three-day KISS Army Storms Vegas event in November.
The weekend — which marks the 50th anniversary of the band’s fan club — will include Q&A sessions and panels, including on KISS’s future.
Read the original article on People
