Earlier this week the Kennedy Center announced the 2025 class of Kennedy Center Honors. Among the list was the rock band KISS.
A Lifetime Achievement Award in the past, KCH recipients were selected on their longevity as an artist and their philanthropic and humanitarian efforts. The criteria for the 2025 was not revealed.
Taking a phrase from one of their songs, the rockers noted that they felt like “shouting out loud” when the announcement was made; despite their previous disparaging remarks to the administration.
After refusing to attend any of the Kennedy Center Honors events during his first term, the current White House was not only involved in selecting the recipients; but will be hosting the event.
The Detroit rockers said that they were “joyful” about joining KCH icons Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Stevie Wonder, and Garth Brooks.
KISS member Gene Simmons noted, “KISS is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.”
Paul Stanley added, “from our earliest days, KISS has embodied the American ideal that all things are possible and that hard work pays off. The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of KISS and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band.”
Former members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss weighed in with Frehley saying it is a “dream come true that I never though would materialize” with Criss saying, “I feel so blessed. This is the greatest honor of our career.”
Gene Simmons was a contestant on the 2008 “Celebrity Apprentice” but was fired on the third week.
Invited to perform during the inauguration for the 45th president, the rockers turned down the invitation. And after the election of Joe Biden as the 46th president, Simmons said, “I knew him before he entered politics. Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization – got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it’s all out in the open because he allowed it.”
Admitting to handing out at the same nightclubs, Simmons added, “you have a different responsibility when you’re just a citizen or an entrepreneur. You don’t make policy. It doesn’t affect life and death. When you get into a position of power, it does affect lives. I don’t think he’s a Republican or a Democrat. He’s out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker.”
Also speaking on the 2020 election results, Paul Stanley called it “abhorrent”; adding it was “a true danger to our democracy. The issue isn’t that it WON’T work. It’s Mob Boss behavior and politicians putting party over audits, investigations, court rulings & COUNTRY in an effort to overrule the will of American voters.”
KISS will be joined by Country music star George Strait, Disco queen Gloria Gaynor, actor Sylvester Stallone, and Tony Award winning actor Michael Crawford as Kennedy Center Honors.