‘I Didn’t Want to Become Fat, Bloated, Naked Elvis’: Why KISS Called It Quits on Touring (And What They’re Up to Now)
Categoria: Musica
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are gearing up for the release of the KISS: End of the Road documentary.
Por Billboard | 13/11/2026
It’s been nearly three years since KISS played its last concert as a touring act — and in makeup. Now the group is giving fans a look behind the scenes of its End of the Road World Tour, a globe-spanning farewell trek that was bumpier than the KISS camp let on. The revealing KISS: End of the Road documentary drops Nov. 19 via KISSOnline.com , where it will be available for seven days before moving on to other platforms. The band will preview the film during its KISS Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas convention Nov. 13-15 at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, where it will also play acoustic and electric concerts and host a tribute to late original guitarist Ace Frehley, who passed away in October 2025 at the age of 74. KISS’ recent spate of activity also includes the release of box sets celebrating the 50th anniversary of the group’s fifth studio album, Rock and Roll Over, which spent 45 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 11 in 1976. At the same time, the KISS Army is awaiting an avatar show that’s been in the works for several years, as well as a biopic that’s also in process. “It’s as it should be,” the group’s Paul Stanley tells Billboard via Zoom about KISS’ continuing life after reaching the End of the Road. “KISS is larger than life, and KISS isn’t about the four individuals. It’s about the four persons, the four characters. It’s a timeless thing, so I totally get those four going on. I can get older, but he [Stanley’s Starchild character] won’t.” Gene Simmons, whom Stanley founded KISS with during 1973 in New York, adds that, “We’ve seen bands that wait too long to get off the road and it’s sad. I didn’t want to become fat, bloated, naked Elvis on the bathroom floor. So you have to know when to get off the stage as KISS. But that doesn’t mean (the band) has to end.” Back to the End The nearly two-and-a-half-hour KISS: End of the Road film shows in intimate detail that the conclusion of that phase of the band’s career was emotional, triumphant and trying. Directed by DJ Viola, who also helmed the 2021 A&E documentary KISStory, the chronicle focuses on the final 2023 leg of the pandemic-interrupted End of the Road World Tour, which started in South America and played North America, Europe and Australia before wrapping up with homecoming performances Dec. 1-2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Noting that KISStory was “what we call a ‘womb-to-tomb’ documentary,” Viola tells Billboard , “I wanted End of the R oad to be almost the antithesis of that approach. Rather than having the guys tell us what happened, I wanted audiences to experience it as it was happening, from the first of their final 50 shows all the way to Madison Square Garden.” He and his crew became embedded flies on the wall during the trek, capturing planning meetings, backstage int