Formed in 1973, the original KISS line-up included leads Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons as The Starchild and The Demon – the band’s only two consistent members from founding. When they started out, Ace Frehley played lead guitar as The Spaceman until 1982 and Peter Criss was their drummer as The Catman until 1980. Nevertheless, the original four were reunited from 1996 until the early 2000s.
Since then Tommy Thayer (The Spaceman on lead guitar) and Eric Singer (The Catman on drums) have been consistent members of KISS and are performing on the End of the Road world tour with Stanley and Simmons.
But in a recent interview, Stanley was asked about a reunion with Frehley and Criss.
Speaking on Sirius XM’s Jim & Sam Show, The Starchild legend said: “Well, the original four are the original four. We were the ones who started this and created the template that we still stand by today.
“I think where people go wrong is when they think that things can remain timeless and that time doesn’t take its toll.”
READ MORE: KISS Gene Simmons: Ace and Peter world tour cameo hopes disappear
Stanley continued: “You may want mom and dad to be back together, but it didn’t work out.
“And we had amazing moments and amazing times, and we did some phenomenal things together which, look, tie me to them forever. But that’s not the fairy tale; it doesn’t end there.
“I’ve said before: we couldn’t have been here without Ace and Peter, and we couldn’t be here today with Ace and Peter.”
However, the KISS star doesn’t believe such a reunion with them is possible.
Speaking with Talking Wax With Adika Live!, Simmons said: “God love ’em, both Ace and Peter, in the beginning of the band, were just the best thing that ever happened to us.
“But they made such horrible choices in their life. And they continue to do that.
“They continue to make really bad choices, not just in terms of their health and what you ingest, but career choices.”
For information on the Kiss End of the Road world tour, click here.