PAUL STANLEY Admits To Feeling 'Disoriented' After Completion Of KISS's Farewell Tour

In a new interview with "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern", KISS frontman Paul Stanley was asked if it has been "an adjustment" not going back out on tour after the completion of the band's "End Of The Road" farewell trek. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I was gonna use the word 'adjustment'. There's no way to give that up and not feel a sense of, if not lost, kind of disoriented.

"It was time [for KISS to stop touring], and intellectually it made sense, but that doesn't mean that emotionally, it doesn't play a part in it," he continued. "So, yeah, being home, as I am right now, is normal. What's not normal is I'm not going back out.

"KISS remains. We're so involved in what's going on now and the future and this phenomenal, mind-boggling KISS avatar show. But, yeah, to not be up there — I see video from 10 months ago, 11 months ago, and it almost seems like a lifetime ago, because I've kind of come to grips with not doing that again… Star Child [Paul's stage character] is forever — but me up there, that's done."

Stanley also talked about the prospect of stepping down from the stage and not performing in front of an audience ever again, especially as aging affects the singing voice in various ways, including changes in pitch, volume and clarity. He said: "I would be lying to say that I'm the singer I was 20 years ago, 30 years ago. 50 years ago? Of course not. No prize fighter is the fighter that they were, no basketball player.

"I think that we've all earned the right, and always have the right, to decide what we do and for how long," he continued. "An audience has a right to stop coming. But the rest is up to the individual.

"It's always interesting when I hear someone say, 'Oh, I wish so-and-so would retire from sports or from entertainment because I wanna remember them the way they were.' Well, if you wanna do that, stop watching. But to impose that will, it's ludicrous.

"I'm good friends with singers who certainly have gone through similar things where you come to grips with what you still are and what you're not, and then you either find a way to make it work or at some point you say it's time to let go," Paul added.

The technology being used for the KISS avatars, originally developed for ABBA's "Voyage" show in London, will allow KISS to stay "on the road" in retirement.

The KISS avatars were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and were financed and produced by the Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind "ABBA Voyage".

Using cutting-edge technology, Pophouse Entertainment Group, which was founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, will create digital versions of KISS. The project was previewed at the final KISS concert in New York in December 2023.

KISS recently sold its entire music catalog, likeness and brand name to Pophouse. While terms of the deal were not officially announced, Bloomberg and Associated Press said it was worth upwards of $300 million.