Gary Graff | Billboard

Gabriel Olsen

It’s one thing for Paul Stanley to take Kissmate Gene Simmons to task. But woe be to anyone else who wants to do it — and that means you, Nikki Sixx.

With Kiss preparing for the worldwide May 25 screening of its Kiss Rocks Vegas concert film and the early July launch of its summer Freedom To Rock tour, Stanley has been the fulcrum of some pointed social media exchanges during the past week. He took Simmons to task on Twitter for some derogatory interview comments the bassist made about Prince‘s death, calling them “cold, clueless statements.” Simmons subsequently apologized via Twitter. But when Sixx later slammed Simmons as a “bully” and claiming that “nobody in rock” respects him, Stanley posted a sharply worded Facebook retort calling Sixx’s comments an “unimportant but annoying squeak” and directing him to “please shut up, find another way to be in the news and get off your self inflated pedestal.”

Nikki Sixx Calls Gene Simmons an ‘Overrated, Lucky Guy’ After Controversial Prince Comment

“It’s just silly stuff, honestly,” Stanley tells Billboard. “It’s one thing to call somebody out and to have a point of view on somebody’s quotes, but then to just harp on it…You have to be suspect of the motives. Whatever questions I have about things that Gene has said is one thing, but to beat him into the ground becomes self-serving. It just gets annoying. For other people to harp on it and beat it into the ground is not something I want to sit by and listen to. When somebody starts to denigrate or take potshots at your contributions or your band or anything else, when you consider the source it gets to be ludicrous.”

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Radio.com

Paul Kane

Paul Stanley has one more thing to say about the roundabout beef between himself, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and KISS bandmate Gene Simmons.

It all started when Simmons made some tasteless comments about Prince’s death, calling the late artist “pathetic,” for killing himself through drug use.  Simmons later backpedaled from those comments andapologized.

Stanley chastised Simmons for those comments, but then Nikki Sixx weighed in, slamming Simmons, and disavowing him as a personal hero.

Stanley did not take kindly to the take down, posting a lengthy rebuttaldefending Simmons.

“It’s just silly stuff, honestly,” Stanley says in a new interview withBillboard. “It’s one thing to call somebody out and to have a point of view on somebody’s quotes, but then to just harp on it…You have to be suspect of the motives. Whatever questions I have about things that Gene has said is one thing, but to beat him into the ground becomes self-serving. It just gets annoying.”

Pasquale

Patrick Demontigny and I, Pasquale Vari,  will be hosting this one night only event at the Cineplex Odeon in Brossard at the 10/30 on the South Shore of Montreal.

We want to make this special screening a KISS Style event…BIG.

We will be introducing the movie to the fans, giving out official KISS Merch Door Prizes including KISS Rocks Vegas Posters, a KKII poster signed by Paul, Gene, Eric and Tommy and much more.

SHOUT IT OUT LOUD KISS Army and we will see you on May 25th!!!

Cineplex Odeon, 9350 Boulevard Leduc, Brossard, QC J4Y 0B3, Canada

Christa Titus | Billboard

On Ace Frehely’s latest album,Origins, Vol. 1, the guitar legend slips into the roles of both admirer and idol. The formerKiss member compiled the collection of covers by picking songs from bands who influenced him as a musician, like Led Zeppelin (“Bring It On Home,”) Cream (“White Room”),Free (“Fire and Water”) and The Kinks (“Till the End of the Day”). Then he consulted his Rolodex to invite contemporaries to join him on the record, like John 5, Lita Ford, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Slash.

“Slash is an amazing, fiery guitar player, just like me,” says Frehley of the top-hatted axeman, who trades licks with him on Thin Lizzy’s “Emerald.” “I think we complemented each other rather than try to outplay each other.”

Ace Frehley Working On Covers Album Before Taking Touring Break

Frehley also extended asks to one-time bandmates Paul Stanley andGene Simmons. While Frehley wasn’t able to get a hold of Simmons — “Maybe for volume two,” he says philosophically — Stanley paired with him for “Fire and Water,” for which they also shot a video:

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Michael Brandvold

Blabbermouth

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley recently spoke to Fuse about his solo covers set, “Origins Vol. 1”, which came out in April. You can now watch the chat below.

Regarding how he went about choosing which songs to cover, Frehley said: “I knew this album was coming, and every time I got an idea or heard a song that I said, ‘That might be a good one to do,’ I’d write it down. And maybe I had had, like, thirty songs and I tried to pick ones that I thought I could do live also; that was a contributing factor in my decision.”

He continued: “I originally wasn’t that excited about it, but once I started the recording process, it just snowballed.

“I’m really happy with the nine covers and three remakes of KISS songs. I think it’s a good package.”

“Origins Vol. 1” debuted at No. 23 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 16,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 21. The CD features KISS frontman Paul Stanley joining Ace on FREE‘s hit “Fire And Water”. This collaboration marks the first time that Ace and Paul appear on the same studio recording since KISS‘s 1998 reunion album “Psycho Circus”. Other guests are Slash trading leads on THIN LIZZY‘s classic “Emerald”, Lita Ford singing and playing lead on THE TROGGS staple “Wild Thing”, ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 playing guitar alongside Ace as he sings his classic KISS composition “Parasite” for the very first time, as well as Jimi Hendrix‘s “Spanish Castle Magic”, and PEARL JAM‘s Mike McCready also plays guitar with Ace as he finally sings his KISS “Alive!” mainstay “Cold Gin”.

“Origins Vol. 1” track listing: Continue reading →

Anti Music

KISS frontman Paul Stanley called out Nikki Sixx in a social media post after the former Motley Crue bass player made insulting comments about Stanley’s bandmate Gene Simmons.

Sixx made disparaging comments about Gene following controversial remarks that Simmons made about the death of Prince in an interview with Newsweek, which he quickly apologized for.

Stanley took to his official Facebook page after he learned of Sixx’s comments and wrote, “Jesus Christ Nikki Sixx! Would you please shut up, find another way to be in the news and get off your self inflated pedestal.

“Regardless of some things Gene Simmons has said that I may take issue with, his influence on musicians (you included) is undeniable and will continue.

“More importantly, his work, generosity and monetary contributions to numerous causes and charities for those less fortunate makes your ongoing rant, in the scheme of things, the unimportant but annoying squeak it truly is. Move on.” Continue reading →

QFM96

Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx has turned on Gene Simmons following the KISS rocker’s ill-advised remarks about the death of Prince.

The outspoken bassist has apologized for calling the “Purple Rain” singer’s alleged drug-related death “pathetic,” but Sixx is still angry and upset.

Sixx attacked the KISS star again on his “Sixx Sense” radio show, adding, “Nothing that Gene Simmons says resonates with me.

“I think that he (Gene) is (an) overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown. (He) wrote some good songs, (but) hasn’t in a long time.”

He ended his radio rant by declaring, “I like my heroes to be humble. I like my heroes to have compassion. And I like my heroes to be open to change. I don’t like my heroes to be egotistical (expletives). Gene Simmons, you’re no longer my hero.”

In his apology following his Prince death comments, Simmons said, “I apologize – I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts. I get angry at drug users because of my experience being around them coming up in the rock scene.”

The KISS Room

Podcast Rock City

Andrew Kiss returns back to the show, and we discuss LICK IT UP! And of course we tackle the twitter war, and also have a great ASK ANDREW question! Check it out!

Cherise Johnson | Hip Hop DX

Bouer-Griffin

After Gene Simmons said that he’s looking forward to the death of Rap and complained about N.W.A being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, the Kiss frontman now admits that he doesn’t really want Rap to die, The List reports.

In March, he told Rolling Stone that not only was he looking forward to Rap’s decline but that he was also hoping for the return of the melody and song.

“I didn’t mean that mean-spirited,” the Kiss vocalist now says. “I’ve got to watch my words. Of course I don’t want it to die. But it will. Rock dies, rap dies – doo-wop died. That Chuck Berry stuff is gone. Folk rock went. All things will pass. This idea that music will last forever is delusional.”

“I’ve been criticized for saying rock is dead but I stand by my words,” he continues. “From 1958 to 1988 we had Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The [Rolling] Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Queen. From 1988 until today, give me the new Beatles? It doesn’t work, does it? Pretty fucking pathetic. The boy band is alive and well. One Direction is a very big band. The pop stuff is good. You’ve got [Justin] Bieber and Beyoncé. But I don’t know how to tell anybody this, but it ain’t the Beatles. It doesn’t have the gravitas.”

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Blabbermouth

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has taken to Twitter to distance himself from comments that his bandmate, Gene Simmons, made about Prince.

Simmons made headlines earlier today when he told Newsweek about Prince‘s death: “His drugs killed him. What do you think, he died from a cold?”

Simmons added that he still holds Prince in high regard as a musician. “I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them,” he said. “I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don’t kid yourself, that’s what he did. Slowly, I’ll grant you — but that’s what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death.”

After Gene‘s comments were picked up by various news organizations, Stanley tweeted: “Embarrassed by cold clueless statements re Prince‘s death. Without all the facts better to say nothing. My apologies.” He also added a link to the Newsweek article containing Gene‘s quotes.

Initial toxicology tests showed the painkiller Percocet was present in Prince‘s body at his time of death, but autopsy and toxicology results aren’t complete, and the artist’s cause of death remains unknown.

Jason Herndon

Podcast Rock City

Loudwire

Jody Havenot

Michael Brandvold

Rolling Stone

It’s been 14 long, drama-saddled years since Ace Frehley played live with Kiss. But the guitarist recently united with former bandmate Paul Stanley for a rendition of Free’s “Fire and Water,” which appears on Frehley’s new covers LP, Origins Vol. 1. Now the duo have joined forces for the song’s video – their first together since Kiss’ 1998 clip for “Psycho Circus.”

Frehley and Stanley open with an alley pep-talk, telling each other it’s been “too many years” but emphasizing they’ve “still got it.” The rock legends hit the stage and perform the hard-hitting 1970 track, backed by flashing lights. “You’ve got what it takes to make a poor man’s heart break,” Stanley sings, flamboyantly pointing straight into the camera.

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Noise 11

Ros O’Gorman

When Gene Simmons named his new album ‘Asshole’ few people would argue it was an inappropriate name. Gene does have a reputation to uphold after all.

Asshole is his first solo in 26 years. Kiss as a commercial product is pretty much about equal parts Gene’s ‘rock star’ to Paul’s ‘pop star’. Extract the Gene component into a solo record and you get a hard rock sound.

Now over to Tim Cashmere to update the story with Gene Simmons.

Tim Cashmere: Hi Gene how are ya?

Gene Simmons: Wonderful! Hold on a second!

Sarah McLachlan: Hello Tim.

TC: Hello, who is this?

SM: This is Sarah. How are you?

TC: I am not bad; I hear you’re chilling out by the pool up there?

SM: We are chilling out by the pool, yes. It’s fabulous, very good. There is no sun, but it’s still very nice.

TC: There is no sun in Brisbane?

SM: There is sun everywhere except at the pool at the hotel. It’s a bad design.

TC: …but surely you can bask in Gene Simmons’ glowing light?

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