Paul Stanley on KISS: ‘The band will outlive me’

TORONTO — Paul Stanley says KISS will carry on long after he’s gone because it’s much more than just a rock band.

In fact, “we’re not a rock band,” the 62-year-old singer-guitarist said in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun. “We’re a phenomenon.

“Rock bands make music; phenomenons impact society.”

Stanley and Gene Simmons are the only two original members remaining in KISS, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. The group has sold more than 100 million records around the world and continues to perform live concerts.

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“We’re in a unique position of being more than any other band in the sense that one might see us as Superman with a guitar,” said Stanley. “We’re superheroes.”

He said the iconic group is “much bigger than Gene or I or anyone else” and he believes “the band will outlive me.”

Former KISS musicians like Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer — and Stanley said there will come a day when he’ll be replaced.

“I’m not foolish enough to think that I’m the only person to do what I do,” he said. “The Yankees continued without Babe Ruth. Time marches on, and if you’re part of a movement or part of a commitment to a cause, then when you’re time is done … look, if you fall in battle, someone picks up your gun and runs.

“Somebody has to carry the flag, and that’s what KISS is about.”

KISS is scheduled to perform nine shows next month in Las Vegas.