Gene Simmons says Keith Richards would “pass out in half an hour” if he had to do what the KISS bassist does on stage.
In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Simmons was asked why KISS was packing it in when the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney are still touring.
“If you took those esteemed gentlemen and stuck them into my outfit with dragon boots that are seven inches high, they will feel the pain,” he said. “Each dragon boot weighs close to a bowling ball. All in, I’ve got 40 pounds on with the bass I’m carrying around on stage. I’ve got to do that for two hours, spit fire and fly through the air.
“Respectfully, if Keith Richards, who I can’t tell you how much I admire him, but if he got into my outfit, he would pass out in half an hour. The physicality of what we do … we are simply the hardest working band in show business — period.”
KISS launched The End of the Road World Tour in Vancouver in January 2019 but had to hit pause in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour resumed this past August. KISS will hit the road again next March and is set to wrap things up by July.
“So why do we want to quit? I’m 72 and when we stop I’ll be 74,” Simmons said. “I still have my hair, but I have a lot more on my back.”
The rocker added: “We have too much self respect to stay out there a day longer if we can’t live up to our self-mandated manifesto: You wanted the best, you got the best. It’s not, ‘Hey, I remember when they were good.’ We’re not fat, bloated Elvis that should have quit earlier.”