Kiss was pulled off the lineup of the upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales when it was pointed out that bassist and generally filterless person Gene Simmons had gone on record with some less-than-generous statements about the King of Pop following his death:

Some of Simmons' harshest comments came last year in an interview with Classic Rock magazine. "Well, you know, where there's smoke there's fire," Simmons said regarding accusations that Jackson abused young boys. "There's no question in my mind he molested those kids. Not a doubt."


Concert organizers called Kiss's invitation an "oversight" and said in a statement, "We fully agree that even though Kiss is a band Michael admired, we have no choice but to rescind our invitation to them to appear in our tribute concert."

In Simmons's defense: maybe he's the sort of person who believes in separating the artist from the work. We'd suggest Jackson;s camp do the same, but then we'd have to ask the question, "Is Kiss art?"

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/08/kiss_disinvited_from_michael_j.html?mid=partnerfeed

I think this is probably a good decision. Most Jackson fans and Kiss fans are into a totally different style of music. Don't know this for a fact, but I just have a feeling that Michael Jackson fans wouldn't be too interested in Kisses music. I'm a Michael Jackson fan, but not a Kiss fan at all. If I was at an MJ memorial concert and Kiss started playing, I'd probably use that time to take a very long bathroom break. lol

Kiss was pulled off the lineup of the upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales when it was pointed out that bassist and generally filterless person Gene Simmons had gone on record with some less-than-generous statements about the King of Pop following his death:

Some of Simmons' harshest comments came last year in an interview with Classic Rock magazine. "Well, you know, where there's smoke there's fire," Simmons said regarding accusations that Jackson abused young boys. "There's no question in my mind he molested those kids. Not a doubt."


Concert organizers called Kiss's invitation an "oversight" and said in a statement, "We fully agree that even though Kiss is a band Michael admired, we have no choice but to rescind our invitation to them to appear in our tribute concert."

In Simmons's defense: maybe he's the sort of person who believes in separating the artist from the work. We'd suggest Jackson;s camp do the same, but then we'd have to ask the question, "Is Kiss art?"

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/08/kiss_disinvited_from_michael_j.html?mid=partnerfeed
Is KISS art? YES. :rock: :rock:

Maybe not on the level of Michelangelo or Mozart, but they're still selling and rocking. :cool:

The first 'Alive!' album is one of the greatest classic works of the 20th century.

Simmons was just stating the obvious.

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that Gene Simmons would be the KISS member to say that. :crazy:

I think this is probably a good decision. Most Jackson fans and Kiss fans are into a totally different style of music. Don't know this for a fact, but I just have a feeling that Michael Jackson fans wouldn't be too interested in Kisses music. I'm a Michael Jackson fan, but not a Kiss fan at all. If I was at an MJ memorial concert and Kiss started playing, I'd probably use that time to take a very long bathroom break. lol
It's not so far-fetched. Michael Jackson did use Eddie Van Halen for the guitar solo on "Beat It", so the worlds of pop, R & B, and hard rock did combine at that point.

I don't know if KISS was originally asked to be part of this because of Gene Simmons' association with Diana Ross.

It's not so far-fetched. Michael Jackson did use Eddie Van Halen for the guitar solo on "Beat It", so the worlds of pop, R & B, and hard rock did combine at that point.

I don't know if KISS was originally asked to be part of this because of Gene Simmons' association with Diana Ross.

You might be right Greg. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I myself love not just music, but pretty much every style of music. Rock, 1990's pop, gangster rap, old school rap, oldies, grunge, old school Country, etc. Obviously alot of the audience wouldn't like it, but it's definitely possible that there would be some diverse music fans who would give it a chance, and probably even enjoy it.