LICK THIS UP GENE
PAUL STANLEY sets the record straight on who is the undisputed frontman of KISS
Blabbermouth — In a brand new interview with Business Jet Traveler, Paul Stanley was asked about the fact that “Gene Simmons implies that he’s the frontman for KISS” while Paul, in his book, says that he is. “A frontman is the person who does the talking and who gives a group its identity and communicates to the audience,” Paul clarified. “There’s only one person on the stage who does that. If that’s the definition of a frontman, then it’s undisputable [that I’m the frontman]. If you interpret frontman as something else… if it’s being in the media, well, then it’s different.”
Stanley spoke about his long-lasting — and sometimes rocky — relationship with his KISSbandmate during a 2017 interview with Classic Rock magazine. “Gene‘s my brother,” he said. “He lives right down the street. And we like each other so much that we stay out of each other’s way. As sickening as it might sound, we’re not beyond sending each other texts of appreciation. We both have the lives that perhaps we didn’t intend to in the beginning, but we both made it possible for us to reach the lives that made us happy. If you would have told him 30, 40 years ago where he’d wind up, he couldn’t comprehend it. But you have to keep moving forward. And you may find your destination is not where you intended.”
Stanley told the Austin American-Statesman in a 2014 interview that his four-decade-plus partnership with Simmons works in spite of, or because of, their differences.
“I think [being provocative is] part of who he is,” Stanley said. “Why we do what we do is rooted in our childhood and our experiences. He likes to shock or annoy people and he does that very well. He’s also a terrific partner and somebody who is clearly irreplaceable.”
Simmons previously told Classic Rock magazine about his relationship with Stanley: “Paul is the soul of KISS and I’m… the cock. Paul is much more emotional, and I’m drier. Paul will go see romantic movies, I’ll throw up at them.” Drummer Eric Singer offered his own perspective, telling the magazine: “Gene loves the sound of his own voice, we all know that. But nothing happens in KISS unless Paul Stanley says it does.”
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