Eddie Van Halen KISS Rumor Addressed

Both KISS and Van Halen have been the focus of rumors over the years and one such rumor that has persisted is that Eddie Van Halen wanted to join the legendary make-up donning band in the early 1980s.

The story goes that Eddie Van Halen was unhappy in his band and wanted to join KISS around the time that they were looking for a replacement for Ace Frehely, but Paul Stanley remembers it a different way.

Stanley was asked about the rumor during this year's KISS Kruise and told fans (see video here), "No. Eddie Van Halen did not almost join KISS."

Paul says that the guitarist did visit KISS in the studio. He continued, "I think there was some strife within the band [Van Halen] at that point, for him, and Eddie came down just to see what was going on. And I remember he was really blown away by the solo in 'Creatures'. He said, 'Get that guy.' That guy who played the solo in 'Creatures' was a guy named Steve Farris, who was in a band called Mister Mister, who had a bunch of hits. But the guitar player was great. And at that point, Eddie was getting into keyboards.

"And I remember he brought some tapes of some of the songs he was working on. And it was, like, this guy is this unbelievable guitar player." Paul says he thought, "'Eddie, what are you doing on keyboards?' But that was the start of 'Jump' and all that other stuff that came afterwards. But Eddie was never going to join KISS and was never almost in KISS."

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