Why KISS Snubbed Former Members At Final Show

03-02-2025

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has pushed back on the criticism that the band received for not involving any past members of the group in their final concert at Madison Square Garden in late 2023.

The concert featured the final lineup of the band, founders Stanley and Gene Simmons, along with guitarist Tommy Thayer, and drummer Eric Singer. However, cofounders Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, or other former members like Bruce Kulick, Vinnie Vincent, or the late Eric Carr or Mark St. John, were not thanked or mentioned directly during the show.

Stanley was asked why the surviving past members were not part of the show during an appearance on the Talk is Jericho podcast. He explained, "To be somewhat diplomatic, there were people who made unrealistic demands of what they requiredt.

"And it's not about that. It wasn't, for example, a celebration of the beginning of the band; it was a celebration of 50 years of a band, as opposed to a tribute to the start."

He expanded on the tribute thought, . "What are we gonna have, videos up on the screen or draped photos? The fact that we were there, we were there because of everybody who participated, some more than others, but the tribute to everyone is us existing."