KISS set to perform final concert as manager hints at potential reunion featuring 'all the former members'
Legendary band KISS is about to embark on the band's final concert tour ever. After 45 years, KISS is ready to say goodbye to the stage with their final world tour, with the final show being held in New York City on July 17, 2021.
Since their formation in 1973 with original members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, KISS changed the game when they rocked up with the theatrical make-up and hair, comic-book style characters, and "shock rock" performances that would become their signature style.
The band has had unparalleled success and a run that most would be envious of. Nearly 50 years of performing — that's the dream for most musicians!
However, over the course of the band's run, it has also seen some major changes to the line-up - from the departure of founding members Criss and Frehley due to creative differences in 1982, to the 10 years the band performed without their signature makeup and costumes.
Fans were treated to a reunion performance in 1996 which included the original members in their original looks as part of the Alive/Worldwide Tour — their most successful tour to date.
So when KISS announced that they would embark on their final 'End of the Road' world tour that kicked off in 2019, fans were naturally left to wonder if we would get one last reunion performance as well, especially given all the recent interactions between current and former members.
Band manager Doc McGhee, who has managed KISS since 1995, seems to think a reunion is highly likely.
In November last year, McGhee confirmed that all the living former members of the band had been approached about participating in the final tour. The two-and-a-half-year gig will have covered 165 dates across multiple concert shows by the time it wraps up in 2021.
Speaking about the possibility of a reunion with the band's former members, McGhee said, "It's going to be great. It's going to be worthy of the end of the road. It will be worthy to the 45 years of KISS, the last month for sure."
He added, "We want to celebrate everybody and we might bring out all the former members. We'd like to. Nobody says we hate this guy; we hate that guy; we want everybody who wants to come out."