Paul Stanley thinks KISS is bigger than him and Gene Simmons

Paul Stanley thinks KISS could continue without him and Gene Simmons.

The ‘Detroit Rock City’ rockers look set to finish their ‘End of the Road’ farewell tour towards the end of 2022, with founding members Paul and Gene now joined by Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who replaced Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively.

Weighing in on the future of the band once its final two original members retire, the frontman told ‘Radio Bob!’: “I think that recasting KISS or KISS 2.0 is not what we have ever talked about.

“Can KISS continue and can it evolve without us in it? Well, yeah, because it’s already 50 per cent there.

“In other words, there was a time where people said, ‘Well, it can only be the original four.’ [And then] it was, ‘Well, it can only be the original three.’ Well, things move on and circumstances change.”

He admitted despite his confidence in his own abilities, the group is “bigger than any member”, and he doesn’t rule out future iterations with different lineups.

He explained: “Could I see KISS evolving with different personnel? Yeah.

“As big a fan as I am of what I do — and I think I’m damn good — there’s other people around who could pick up the torch and bring something to the philosophy and to the live show and to the mu. It would be KISS. It wouldn’t be KISS 2.0.

“If it were to happen, yeah, it would be really just a continuation of the philosophy that we’ve always had, and that’s that KISS is bigger than any member.”

However, Ace – who first left the group in 1982 before coming back again between 1996 and 2002 – has previously slammed the idea.

He argued: “They’re trying to rationalise to the fans, ‘Well, you know, we replaced Peter and we replaced Ace, and eventually we’re gonna replace ourselves.

“That’s like Mick Jagger saying, ‘Yeah, after me and Keith [Richards], die, The Rolling Stones will continue on with two other guys.’ I mean, it’s a joke.”