Paul Stanley recalled how the idea of Gene spitting fire started

Kiss was not only known for their music but also for their incredible live shows, which featured many special effects and iconic moments, like when Gene Simmons spits fire and then pours fake blood. The band did that for decades when they were wearing make up, until their retirement in 2023. In an interview with Steve-O (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), the musician recalled how the idea started. According to him it was their late manager Bill Aucoin who had the idea.

Paul Stanley recalled how the idea of Gene spitting fire started

“We went up to Bill’s office, our manager’s office. We’re not much more than kids, and we walk into Bill’s office, and there’s a guy there that we don’t know. Bill goes, ‘This is Amaze-o the Magician,’ or something. And we’re like, ‘OK.'”

“And the guy blows this big fireball out of his mouth and scorches the ceiling, and Bill says, ‘Who wants to do it?’ And I go, ‘Not me!’ God bless Gene, he goes, ‘I’ll do it.’ And that was the start of the fire breathing.”

“He was using lamp oil, kerosene, all kinds of things that are good for you,” Stanley joked. “I mean, you don’t have to swallow it, because just by the fact that you have absorbing tissue, it’s going into your body. You don’t have to take a swig of it, it’s going. So luckily, Gene never grew a third head… or even a second head,” Paul Stanley said.

After 50 years on the road Kiss came to an end in 2023 playing their final shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, city where the band was formed. Paul Stanley still didn’t played as a solo artist, but since the beginning of 2024 his former bandmate Gene Simmons is touring all over the world as a solo act with his own band. His setlist is mainly formed by Kiss songs with him on vocals, besides some other covers of famous bands.