KISS’ Paul Stanley says he felt ‘betrayed’ by bandmate Gene Simmons in the ’80s

KISS’ Paul Stanley says he felt a bit betrayed by his bandmate Gene Simmons in the ’80s when Simmons went off to pursue other projects when he should have been concentrating on the next KISS album.

“I felt betrayed. No secret, I felt that he was leaving me to do the heavy work but continued to get paid. So, you know, trying to have the best of both worlds,” Stanley said on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast. “Go off and do your own thing, and have the success at any level that there was success, and the monetary compensation, which I’m not sharing in, but you’re abandoning ship and you’re still my partner.”

Simmons dabbled in acting in the ’80s, nabbing parts in TV and movies, including an appearance on Miami Vice. Stanley says at the time he felt “very resentful and hurt,” but it forced him to commit even more to KISS.

“Gene’s my brother, he’s been with me since I was 17. So that was difficult, really difficult,” he said. “But again it was, ‘Well screw it, I’m not gonna let this band fall apart.’ If it’s my band in that sense, then so be it. … But yeah, I felt that he was selling the band short. … I thought he wasn’t playing fair.”

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