In a recent chat on Jeremy White Podcast, Kiss singer/guitarist Paul Stanley has addressed Gene Simmons‘ claims about Eddie Van Halen joining Kiss back in 1982, as Eddie would have left Van Halen:
In a 2014 interview, Gene told Guitar World about Eddie:
“He was very serious. He was so unhappy about how he and Roth were – or weren’t – getting along. He couldn’t stand him. And drugs were rampant. And so he took me to lunch, to a diner right across the street from the Record Plant.
“Vinnie Vincent, who was not yet in Kiss tagged along, too. Sneaky guy. And Eddie said, ‘I want to join Kiss. I don’t want to fight anymore with Roth. I’m sick and tired of it.’
“But I told him, ‘Eddie, there’s not enough room. You need to be in a band where you can direct the music. You’re not going to be happy in KISS.’ I talked him out of it. It didn’t fit.”
Regarding this, Paul Stanely commented:
“As far as Edward joining us or anything like that, I have to say – I didn’t ever hear that. I was on the phone with him around that time – he was calling me, and I think there was tension in his band and he was asking me, for example, why we did solo albums, why we had to do that.
“I think he felt that fracturing within his band. But as far as anything beyond that, wanting to join us or anything like that, I can’t say no and I wouldn’t say no. I don’t know. I’ll leave that to Gene.”
1 comment
Not true, I remember when that rumor started going around, Edward said “Why would I want to quit my own band and join a band who we are outselling every tour!”