One of the band’s founding members, drummer and singer Peter Criss was part of the band from 1973 to 1980, rejoining from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2004. Over the decades, all the members of the band have given their own versions of what really happened between them that led to their departures, and Gene Simmons has often blamed Peter’s and Ace’s addiction problems and behavior.
In an interview with The Moynihan Report, he talked about his current relationship with Peter and also revealed that Criss doesn’t make that much money from the band these days because he and Paul Stanley “bought him out” in 1982.
Gene Simmons talks about how much money Peter Criss makes from KISS these days
“When we’re with each other, it’s great. As you go apart… Ah, it’s tough for me to be honest and stuff. Peter’s always considered himself a victim: ‘They ganged up on me, and look what they did to me,’ and stuff like that. Instead of, if you’re really cured and everything, you look in the mirror and said, ‘It’s my fault. I used. I didn’t do my work, and I was complaining,’ instead of being grateful to be in one of the largest bands that has ever existed.”
When asked if Peter still makes money from Kiss, he said: “Very little. We bought him out — in 1982”. Gene also said that he and Paul bought Ace Frehley’s ownership stake in the band, which means Ace and Peter became salaried employees after that. “All groups of people are a business. Money’s gotta come from someplace. Life is business. People don’t like that,” he said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Besides being the band’s drummer, influencing a huge generation of artists, he also was the vocalist in many famous Kiss songs. Some of them are “Hard Luck Woman”, “Black Diamond”, “Beth” and “Strange Ways”. As a solo artist, Peter Criss has released six studio albums, with the most recent one, coming out in 2025. Neither he nor Ace Frehley was part of KISS’ farewell tour, but Peter was there at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2025 when the band was honored. Since Ace’s death at the age of 74, Gene Simmons is the only original member of the band who is still touring as a solo artist.