Is Kiss Truly Bidding Farewell or Plotting a Rock 'n' Roll Encore?

When Kiss graces the stage at Madison Square Garden this Saturday night, it marks the grand finale of their End of the Road farewell tour, kicking off in January 2019. Bassist Gene Simmons boldly declared, “We’re gonna go out on top,” in a 2022 interview with Los Angeles radio station KLOS-FM. Supposedly, this is it—no more Kiss tours, ever.

 

But in the unpredictable world of showbiz, curtains drop and rise again, sometimes for an encore that lasts longer than expected. Kiss fans vividly recall the year 2000 when the band announced a yearlong Farewell Tour, with guitarist Paul Stanley asserting, “We’re the champs again, let’s retire on top.” (Consistency, it seems, is their forte.)

 

Yet, music enthusiasts have reasons to be skeptical, considering the industry's penchant for income-generating tactics, from exorbitant ticket fees to extortionate parking charges. David Bowie's 50th-anniversary retirement in 1973, swiftly followed by a return to the stage, serves as a cautionary tale. Other artists, like Phil Collins with his "First Final Farewell" tour in 2004 and the cheekily named "Not Dead Yet" tour in 2017, have toyed with the idea of retirement, only to resurface later.

 

Age becomes a factor in assessing the credibility of farewell tours. Bowie was 26 during his first retirement; Simmons, at 74, dons seven-inch platform heels, spits blood, and breathes fire in a 40-pound costume. The youthful bluster of "rock ’n’ roll all night, and party every day" loses some punch almost 50 years later.

 

Doug Brod, author of "They Just Seem a Little Weird: How Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll," cautiously asserts that this might indeed be the end for Kiss. However, if they stage a comeback in 2028 with a "We Were Just Kidding" tour, genuine fans might welcome it—after all, who wouldn't want to see their favorite band again?

 

Baby boomer musicians, benefiting from healthier touring circumstances, continue to thrive on the road, with names like Paul McCartney (81), Mick Jagger (80), and Pete Townshend (78) still making music. The recent surge in farewell tours includes iconic names such as Joan Baez, Paul Simon, the B-52’s, Foreigner, and more, spanning generations from baby boomers to younger acts like Styles P, Scarface, Daddy Yankee, and 50 Cent.

 

The tradition of faux farewells isn't new; even Frank Sinatra's 1971 retirement turned out to be a publicity stunt, and Bowie, a big Sinatra fan, took notes. While some retirements may be sincere initially, the allure of dramatic goodbyes, coupled with the potential for a Lazarus-like return, makes it a lucrative business move.

 

Ozzy Osbourne, after his 1992 retirement citing family reasons, returned three years later with a "Retirement Sucks" tour, leaving fans speculating about his domestic life. Hard rock bands like Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, and Black Sabbath have played the retirement ruse, alongside other genres and artists like the Who, Cher, and LCD Soundsystem, who released a documentary about their farewell in 2011 only to return five years later.

 

As Bowie retired, unretired, and retired again, he revealed the ease of lying in showbiz, stating, “I can’t even remember how much I believe and how much I don’t believe.” The question remains: Is Kiss bidding a final adieu or setting the stage for a rock 'n' roll encore? Only time will tell, and for true fans, perhaps another reunion is just part of the show.