ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN Says KISS 'Made The Right Decision' By Not Playing ROCK HALL Induction

February 27, 2014

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian has defended KISS leaders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons for their announcement that no members of KISS will be playing at the April 10 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Brooklyn. Their statement came on the heels of Ace Frehley explaining to fans that neither he nor Peter Criss are invited to play with Simmons and Stanley.

Speaking to "Rover's Morning Glory", a syndicated hot-talk/comedy radio show airing weekday mornings on Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM),Ian joked: "Look, I've got Gene Simmons tattooed on my leg, so whatever Gene says is what goes."

He continued: "I'm a [KISS] fan, just like everyone else, and would I wanna see, if I was going… I'm not going to the Hall Of Fame thing, so would I wanna see the four original dudes back in makeup one more time? Of course I would, as a fan. But bands don't do things dictated by what the audience wants. A band would last about a year if that's how you worked. You have to do things the way you wanna do them.

"KISS has been around for 40 years and are bigger now than they were in 1977 because Gene and Paul make smart decisions — that's why. So, as a fan, and if you love them, you have to abide by the decisions that Gene and Paul are making for their brand and their band. So, why people get so upset over these things, I really don't undertand. Like, if they decided they were playing with [current KISS members] Tommy [Thayer, guitar] and Eric [Singer, drums], so fine. That's what they're doing. This is their band. This has been the lineup for a long time now.

"I get it — those two guys [Tommy and Eric] aren't the guys who are getting into the Hall Of Fame [with Paul and Gene], it's Ace and Peter… you know, I get it.

"So I think they made the right decision now by saying, 'We're just not gonna play. You can't please everybody. We're just gonna shut it down and just not do it.' I get it. I understand."

Simmons and Stanley have chosen to have the rest of the current KISS lineup —Thayer and Singer — dress up as Criss' and Frehley's respective "spaceman" and "catman" personas.

Frehley left KISS after the band's 2002 "Farewell" dates, saying afterwards that he took the word "farewell" seriously.

Criss claimed that his contract with KISS wasn't renewed in March 2004.

Both charges have been disputed by Simmons and Stanley.

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