Kiss can never perform again without the permission of people outside the band.
That’s according to no less an authority than Gene Simmons. The bassist was talking on the Detroit classic rock station WCSX about the band’s future and whether they’d ever reunite.
“Kiss was actually sold - the makeup and the tunes and the publishing and all that - for a…” At that point the bassist garbled his words to suggest an unnamed sum that is a lot of money.
Indeed, Simmons and co sold the Kiss catalogue, brand name, likenesses, the whole kit and caboodle to Pophouse, a Swedish ‘global entertainment and music investment firm’ back in 2024. Pophouse is the group that's developing the Kiss avatar show, which should – if all goes according to plan – be with us in 2027.
“We're involved together in the future,” Simmons said of the Pophouse deal. “So there's gonna be a motion picture, which is being cast now, and there's gonna be - I don't know - cartoon shows, theme park, you name it, it's all coming up. So it's gonna be bigger and better than you've ever heard, including the avatar show.
“But that also means that Kiss can't play live without Pophouse's permission,” he continued, “because they own the makeup and everything.”
That, of course, doesn’t mean that they won’t ever play live again. Indeed, since what was supposed to be their final performance in 2023, Kiss have already reunited for a handful of shows in November last year. These were the Kiss Kruise: Landlocked in Vegas fan club events and featured the band ‘unmasked’ or without makeup. It’s not clear whether Pophouse had to provide their permission for those gigs to go ahead.
Simmons did admit in the interview that he still has a performance itch that he has to scratch. So he’s created the Gene Simmons Band to assuage that desire: “I didn't wanna stay away from the stage,” he explained. “It's the most fun. Being up on that stage and rocking out is the most fun I can imagine with my pants on. And there's a magic that happens there.
"Imagine being a painter, and you paint something, and you're really proud of it, and it just stays in your living room, and nobody sees it. Or if you write a song, and you really like it, you go, 'Whoa, this thing rocks,' but you're the only one who hears it. No, no, no. So I can't stay off the stage," he admitted. "I love it too much."
