GENE SIMMONS Says KISS Will Continue 'For A Few More Years' Before Calling It Quits

Gene Simmons says that KISS has "a few more years" left before it calls it quits. He told Glasgow Live ahead of the band's sold-out May 27 concert at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland (see video below): "We're the hardest-working band in show business. I wear over forty pounds of studs and armor and all that stuff, seven-inch platform heels, spit fire and have to fly through the air and do all that stuff.

"If Bono or [Mick] Jagger, who we all love, had to dress up and do what I do, they couldn't last an hour — they just couldn't."

He continued: "In hindsight, it would have been smarter to be a U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES, to wear some sneakers and a t-shirt and you're comfortable. No, we had to do it the hard way.

"So we're not gonna be able to do it into our 70s, and I'm 67 now. We'll do it for a few more years, and then when we think it's time to go, we'll go, and we'll do it the right way, with a big party. I'd like to think that we would do something that rocks the planet — something big and worldwide and maybe free."

KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley has repeatedly said that the band could one day continue without him and Gene, explaining in an interview: "Once the original [KISS lineup] was no more, it just became clear to us that, in some ways, we're much more a sports team. We don't fall into the limitations of other bands, because we're not other bands. So, yeah, at some point, I'd love to see somebody in the band in my place, and it's because I love the band."

It was back in 2005 that KISS manager Doc McGhee first told the New York Times that the group had "been toying with the idea of recruiting an entire band to don the band's famous makeup." McGhee said, "KISS is more like Doritos or Pepsi, as far as a brand name is concerned. They're more characters than the individual person. I think [new members] have a legitimate chance to carry the franchise."

Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley said last year that the idea that the band could continue without any original members was "the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard [Stanley and Simmons] make." He added: "I think the only reason they make those statements at this juncture is to try to validate the fact that they have two other guys in the band that aren't the original members. So they're trying to rationalize to the fans, 'Well, you know, we replaced Peter [Criss, original KISS drummer] and we replaced Ace, and eventually we're gonna replace ourselves. That's like Mick Jagger saying, 'Yeah, after me and Keith [Richards, THE ROLLINGS STONES guitarist] die, THE STONES will continue on with two other guys.' I mean, it's a joke."