KISS Confirms One Former Member Not Invited to Farewell Tour

While Paul Stanley maintains that KISS's End of the Road farewell tour will be a celebration of all things Kiss and every musician who helped Kiss along the way, that will not include former guitarist Vinnie Vincent.

After substituting for Ace Frehley in the studio in the late-'70s and early-'80s. With Kiss struggling to find its sound in the '80s, Vincent became a member and helped write the band's hit Lick It Up album, thus saving it from an imminent breakup. Vincent left Kiss (or was fired, depending on who you ask) in 1984 and started the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, which released two albums before disbanding.

Stanley has long been critical of Vincent, having debased the guitarist in the past for "unethical" business practices, a lack of reliability and not knowing when to end his guitar solos.

Stanley confirmed in a recent interview with Guitar World that while he and bassist Gene Simmons have reconnected with co-founding guitarist Frehley and co-founding drummer Peter Criss in recent years — and while they love former guitarist Bruce Kulick — they are not interested in working with Vincent ever again.

"Now Vinnie, that's one exception, and for so many reasons," Stanley said. "I would say that's not someone who I want to celebrate."

Simmons, who himself reconnected with Vincent last year during his Vault tour, says doing business with the guitarist again is a no go.

"[I]t's worth stating that Vinnie has sued the band and lost 14 times," Simmons said. "I'm not here to cast any aspersions. He's a talented guy. That's why he was in the band. But would I depend on him to get up on stage and do anything? Never. ... Can he come to the shows? Of course! Anybody can. But on stage? Never."

Vincent resurfaced last January after some 30 years away from the spotlight. After doing several interviews and traveling the country appearing at fan expos in 2018, he started to work towards making a comeback as a performer.

But actually getting on stage again for a live concert has proved to be a chore. With the exception of one guest spot in October at a pre-Kiss Kruise event, Vincent has been unable to keep a commitment to getting back on stage. He recently canceled his two scheduled comeback shows.

Kiss's End of the Road tour launches January 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The band has announced that it will visit 43 other cities on the first two legs of the tour in what will be the most spectacular Kiss show of all-time.

Get all the Kiss tour dates here.

Photo: Getty Images