"You've got to respect the fans enough to know when to get off that stage," Gene Simmons says. -AP
KISS stopped touring out of "respect" for their fans.
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The veteran Crazy Crazy Nights hit makers called time on their life on the road after their three-year farewell tour came to an end in 2022, and Gene Simmons, 77, has insisted it was important to bow out gracefully.
"You've got to know when to gracefully and proudly step off that stage, because you have to understand that KISS was and continues to be the only band of its type," he told NewsNation's The Hill.
"Every show I had to spit fire ... fly through the air, keep my tongue out all the time. Wear 70 pounds, as much as that, or as little as 50 to 60 pounds of armour, studs, guitars, and all on seven-inch platformed boots for two hours. It's exhausting.
"I'm 77 now, and boy, do I look good. But you've got to know - you've got to respect the fans enough to know when to get off that stage."
Simmons said one of the driving forces for the band had always been giving fans "bang for the buck" by providing the "bombast" and "spectacle" they felt was missing from a lot of live acts.
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