PAUL STANLEY Rules Out KISS Residency At Las Vegas's Sphere: 'I Can't Really See That Happening'

Paul Stanley has shot down rumors that KISS could hold a residency at Las Vegas's new Sphere.

Ever since U2 kicked off its residency on September 29 at the venue that houses a 16K wraparound LED screen and 167,000 speakers inside the 366-foot-tall orb just east of the Las Vegas Strip, there has been a lot of Internet chatter about other artists that could make such creative use of its unique space. However, it appears that KISS won't be one of them.

"I can't speak to it in any other way except to be honest with you about how I feel now, and the way I feel today is ... I can't really see that happening," Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock. "As far as I'm concerned, we're done."

This past March, KISS announced the final shows of its last tour — two back-to-back shows at Madison Square Garden in New York at the end of 2023. The last leg of KISS's North American tour will culminate in the MSG concerts on December 1 and December 2.

Asked in a March 2023 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal if KISS would ever play a show again in Las Vegas, after the band's residency at Zappos Theater scheduled for December 2021-February 2022 was called off, bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons said: "I actually don't know because we have been so inundated by people wanting to see us wherever we go. I mean, every guy whoever washed my dog or did my dry cleaning is hitting me up for tickets for his entire family, three generations back. Vegas? I don't know, it would be nice to do a Vegas residency. But I don't know any of these things."

When KISS's second Las Vegas residency was scrapped back in October 2021, Las Vegas Review-Journal writer John Katsilometes initially reported that "soft ticket sales" were said to be the reason the run has been called off, but his article was later updated to remove any mention of this.

The legendary rockers previously set up shop in Sin City in November 2014 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel And Casino. The nine-show run was captured for the "Kiss Rocks Vegas" DVD and Blu-ray set, which arrived in August 2016.

This past January, Stanley was asked by Yahoo! whether the last concert of the "End Of The Road" tour will truly mark KISS's final performance or if there is a chance of one-off shows or a Las Vegas residency in the future, Stanley said: "I really can't say. But it is the last of any kind of regular shows or touring.

"It's just time," he explained. "And in the same way, it's time consuming. And physically, it's grueling to do what we do. Hell, if I could go out on stage in my jeans and a t-shirt, give us another 10, 15 years easily. But what we do is a whole different sport. I mean, we're athletes; we're running around on stage with 30, 40, pounds of gear, and it's not possible to do it that much longer. So we're not like other bands.

"So, will we do more shows or one-offs? I really have no idea," Paul admitted. "But this is a real clear mindset that the touring days and doing those kind of shows, that's over."