Five days after postponing a show because member Paul Stanley had tested positive for the coronavirus, the band KISS has announced that Gene Simmons also has COVID. They’re rescheduling four additional dates in the Midwest as a result.
“While Paul Stanley recently tweeted that he had recovered from COVID, Gene Simmons has now tested positive and is experiencing mild symptoms,” a post on the rockers’ official Twitter account read. “The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days and doctors have indicated the tour should be able to resume on September 9th at Five Point Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA.” Ticketholders will be contacted, according to the announcement.
Simmons, who had initially tested negative after Stanley fell ill, on Friday told TMZ that everyone on the group’s current End of the Road tour was tested after the news about their bandmate. Everyone had already been vaccinated.
Stanley said in his own statement on Aug. 30 that, although his symptoms were “mild,” the virus “kicked my ass.”
Just this month, Simmons spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about his views on masks and vaccines.
“But how sad is it that it’s ‘political’?” he said. “I don’t care what party you’re affiliated with, or whether you think the election was stolen or not, which is all delusional. The earth is not flat. And this is really serious stuff. There are people dying because governors —[Ron] DeSantis, cough, in Florida — are really hurting people by not mandating masks.”
He advocated for laws requiring the vaccine.
“Let’s be honest: You can’t drive through a red light. You don’t have that freedom. You must wear a seatbelt,” Simmons said. “You’re not allowed to stand up in a movie theater and yell ‘fire’ just because you want to — that’s incitement to riot. So these idiots who are complaining about getting COVID shots or not wearing masks are misunderstanding. They do not have the right to hurt other people. And this is a pandemic and it’s very catchy potentially and you could be infecting other people, which is why I’m a firm believer that this should be a law.”
KISS is far from the only artist to postpone or cancel shows in the wake of the pandemic. BTS, Garth Brooks, Stevie Nicks, Nine Inch Nails and others have done the same.