Four years ago, Kiss announced that they would embark upon one final tour before hanging up their costumes for good and in a new interview, bassist Gene Simmons has revealed why the band has decided to retire.
"The reason for stopping touring is because of pride and self-respect and a love and admiration for the fans," Simmons said during an interview on KLOS' "Whiplash," according to NME. "The last thing you wanna be is to be a world-champion boxer and stay in the ring too long. It's only a matter of time until your legs are not gonna be able to hold you up, and you're gonna lose."
Simmons likened the band's career to that of a boxer who was approaching retirement age.
"We've also seen boxers who've stayed in the ring too long and bands who continue touring too long. And they forget lyrics and you can see the deep wrinkles in their faces. I mean, it's just the nature of life as we know it on earth," he said.
"So we're doing the right thing," He added. "We're gonna quit while we're on top, do the best we can, and it'll be sad, but it's also gonna be happy. On the last show we ever do as a touring band, I'll be crying like a 12-year-old kid whose foot you're stepping on."
Kiss has dozens of concerts booked for Europe and Australia this summer and will then return to North America at the end of the year to perform at several music festivals. The band is also planning to reschedule their Las Vegas residency that was canceled late last year, NME noted. And while the band will be kept busy on tour, their final show is inevitably approaching.
The legendary musician made the comment while discussing the band's retirement during an interview with Classic Rock.
"I know that at some point there's going to be that last song that Kiss will ever play on stage, and I know I'll be crying like a baby and won't be able to hold back the emotions, because what an amazing journey this has been," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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