Paul Stanley, singer and guitarist of Kiss, recently opened up about feeling “resentful and hurt” by bandmate Gene Simmons during the 1980s, a time when Simmons pursued projects outside of the band, leaving Stanley to handle much of the musical work.
Stanley discussed the issue on a recent episode of “The Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan.” “I felt betrayed. No secret,” Stanley said, referring to Simmons’ ventures into film and television, including roles in the 1984 thriller “Runaway,” the 1987 action film “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” and a 1985 episode of “Miami Vice.” During this period, Stanley took on a larger role in producing Kiss’ 1984 album “Animalize.”
“I felt that he was leaving me to do the heavy work but continued to get paid, so trying to have the best of both worlds,” Stanley explained. “Go off and do your own thing and have the success, at any level that there was success, and the monetary compensation, which I’m not sharing in, but you’re abandoning ship and you’re still my partner.”
Stanley admitted to feeling “very resentful and hurt,” though at the time he would have described it as anger. “Gene’s my brother. He’s been with me since I was 17. So that was really difficult,” he said.
Despite the tension, Stanley was committed to keeping Kiss active. “But again, it was, ‘Well, screw it. I’m not gonna let this band fall apart,’” he said. “If it’s my band in that sense, then so be it.”
Both Stanley and Simmons have addressed this challenging period in their memoirs, “Face the Music” and “Kiss and Make-Up,” respectively. Simmons noted, “I started to get lost. I didn’t know how I was supposed to act, because the no-makeup version of the band was an entirely new idea. Paul was in his prime. He was very comfortable being who he was.”
Kiss has endured numerous challenges throughout their 50-year career. The band concluded their latest farewell tour in December 2023 and is set to perform unmasked at the “Kiss Army Storms Vegas” event in November.