Paul Stanley Has Seven Days To Apologize For PISS Comment Or Ace Frehley Will Spill Some KISS Dirt “That Nobody Knows”
The men of KISS are fighting. Earlier this month, around the time that the band announced their “final shows ever,” Paul Stanley went on The Howard Stern Show and was asked about why he and Gene Simmons didn’t perform when KISS was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame way back in 2014.
As has been explained before (and is often the case), the Rock Hall insisted that only members from the first lineup of the band would be inducted: Stanley, Simmons, and original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, who left the band in the mid-80s, only sporadically played with them afterward, and haven’t been involved with KISS since the early ’00s. As Blabbermouth laid out, during the interview Stanley said that the organizers “were demanding, quite honestly, that we play with the two original guys, Peter and Ace.”
“And at this point, that would be demeaning to the band and would also give some people confusion,” Stanley continued. “‘Cause if you saw people on stage who looked like KISS but sounded like that, maybe we should be called PISS.”
Ace Frehley was not happy when he heard those comments. Yesterday, in an interview on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, he went off on Stanley and gave him an ultimatum: Apologize in seven days or he’ll spill some KISS dirt that nobody knows.
“You know what it is? It’s Paul’s frustration and insecurity that he has to use backing tapes,” Frehley said. “And we’re only six months apart, and I can still get up there and belt it out and hit the keys, and he can’t. And it’s very unfortunate.”
“I’m very sad [about] the fact that he’s using backing tracks,” Frehley continued (per Blabbermouth). “It’s cheapening the brand, which affects my bottom line, because I still get paid from KISS on merchandising and whatever else they do. And I’m pissed off about it.” Frehley went on, saying that the band has been “badmouthing me since I quit the very first time” but that the reunion tour he participated in with them “was one of the most successful tours KISS ever did.”
“As far as what he said on Howard Stern, I’m going to make a statement to Paul Stanley right now,” Frehley said, and here’s the kicker:
Paul, if you’re not listening, I’m sure one of your associates in the KISS group are. And I’m telling you that I want my formal apology for what you said and a retraction and an apology within seven days. And if I don’t get that within seven days, I’m coming back on Ed Trunk’s show and I’m gonna tell some dirt that nobody knows about Paul and Gene that I’ve always kept to myself because I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t talk about this. I like to talk about the positive stuff.
You’ve read my book. You’ve read Paul’s book. You’ve read Peter’s book. A lot of times those guys are just throwing people under the bus. I mean, in Paul’s book, he even threw Gene under the bus. What I tried to do was have a fun, entertaining book with interesting stories, and this is the way I am. I’m not the kind of guy who kisses and tells. When it comes to negativity, and we’ve all done things that we regret over the years — it’s there.
I have a 120-page manuscript that I wrote after I finished my book. My attorney has it in a safety deposit box. God forbid anything happens to me. My attorney is instructed to release it to The New York Times, Rolling Stone, API [sic], everybody. So they can’t intimidate me with trying to hurt me or say, ‘You’d better not say anything about me live on the radio.’ Because then they’re totally screwed. Their careers will be ruined.
Six days…