KISS kicks off the final leg of its End of the Road World Tour farewell trek on Thursday, October 19th, at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati. The iconic group will play 26 more shows in North America, calling it quits on December 1st and 2nd at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons began playing music together back in 1970. The usually stoic Stanley tells us that he's starting to feel emotional about the impending end of the band:
“To plan something and then to see the end imminent, it's very different than seeing it far away. So, yeah, there certainly is a reality that hits home. You're on the train and you can see the station.” :22 OC: see the station
The End of the Road World Tour began January 31st, 2019 in Vancouver and, despite the pandemic interruption, has played in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Though KISS staged a purported Farewell Tour during 2000-2001, which was its last with the original lineup, Stanley and Simmons insist that End of the Road is a true farewell tour.
Stanley also told us that despite rumors, do not expect to see original members Ace Frehley or Peter Criss join KISS at any point of the current tour. Eric Singer is KISS' current drummer and Tommy Thayer its lead guitarist.
KISS is currently being sued for negligence and wrongful death by the family of longtime guitar tech Fran Stueber, who died on October 17, 2021, two days after contracting Covid and quarantining at a hotel in suburban Detroit. The group has denied any wrongdoing and Stanley told us that, “It's sad. I'm sorry it's happening. That's all I can say at the moment.”