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Post by Monsters of Rock on Apr 15, 2021 2:15:37 GMT 10
Paul Stanley Says Eddie Van Halen Never Nearly Joined Kiss
Kiss frontman Paul Stanley said Eddie Van Halen had never come close to joining the band in 1982, despite rumors to the contrary fueled by Gene Simmons over the years.
The story goes that Van Halen had become frustrated with singer David Lee Roth around the time Ace Frehley had left Kiss. “So I take [Eddie] to lunch across the street,” Simmons said in 2012, “and he actually tells me: ‘I want to join Kiss. I can’t take Roth – he’s driving me nuts.’ … I remember feeling proud of what I said. I said, ‘Don’t do it. Stay with the band you started. There’s no role for you – you’re too big. You cast too much of a shadow to be the guitar player in Kiss.’ And he went back and he was miserable for the next 20 or 30 years. But it would never have worked. Not even close.”
In a fan question-and-answer session on the recent Kiss Kruise, Stanley was asked about the story. “No. Eddie Van Halen did not almost join Kiss,” he replied. “I think there was some strife within [Van Halen] at that point, for him, and Eddie came down [to our studio] just to see what was going on. And I remember he was really blown away by the solo in 'Creatures [Of the Night]'. He said, 'Get that guy.' That guy who played the solo in 'Creatures' was a guy named Steve Farris, who was in a band called Mister Mister, who had a bunch of hits. But the guitar player was great.”
Stanley noted that Eddie Van Halen "was getting into keyboards" around that time. "And I remember he brought some tapes of some of the songs he was working on," he recalled. "And it was, like, this guy is this unbelievable guitar player. 'Eddie, what are you doing on keyboards?' But that was the start of 'Jump' and all that other stuff that came afterwards. But Eddie was never going to join Kiss and was never almost in Kiss."
Ultimate Classic Rock website
Kiss frontman Paul Stanley said Eddie Van Halen had never come close to joining the band in 1982, despite rumors to the contrary fueled by Gene Simmons over the years.
The story goes that Van Halen had become frustrated with singer David Lee Roth around the time Ace Frehley had left Kiss. “So I take [Eddie] to lunch across the street,” Simmons said in 2012, “and he actually tells me: ‘I want to join Kiss. I can’t take Roth – he’s driving me nuts.’ … I remember feeling proud of what I said. I said, ‘Don’t do it. Stay with the band you started. There’s no role for you – you’re too big. You cast too much of a shadow to be the guitar player in Kiss.’ And he went back and he was miserable for the next 20 or 30 years. But it would never have worked. Not even close.”
In a fan question-and-answer session on the recent Kiss Kruise, Stanley was asked about the story. “No. Eddie Van Halen did not almost join Kiss,” he replied. “I think there was some strife within [Van Halen] at that point, for him, and Eddie came down [to our studio] just to see what was going on. And I remember he was really blown away by the solo in 'Creatures [Of the Night]'. He said, 'Get that guy.' That guy who played the solo in 'Creatures' was a guy named Steve Farris, who was in a band called Mister Mister, who had a bunch of hits. But the guitar player was great.”
Stanley noted that Eddie Van Halen "was getting into keyboards" around that time. "And I remember he brought some tapes of some of the songs he was working on," he recalled. "And it was, like, this guy is this unbelievable guitar player. 'Eddie, what are you doing on keyboards?' But that was the start of 'Jump' and all that other stuff that came afterwards. But Eddie was never going to join Kiss and was never almost in Kiss."
Ultimate Classic Rock website
