Paul Stanley recently talked about the rumor that Eddie Van Halen almost joined Kiss 40 years ago.
Read what he said:
“No. Eddie Van Halen did not almost join KISS. Eddie [came down to] the studio. I think there was some strife within the band [Van Halen] at that point, for him, and Eddie came down just to see what was going on.
“And I remember he was really blown away by the solo in [the song] ‘Creatures of the Night.’ He said, ‘Get that guy.’ That guy who played the solo in ‘Creatures’ was a guy named Steve Farris, who was in a band called Mister Mister, who had a bunch of hits.
“But the guitar player was great. And at that point, Eddie was getting into keyboards. And I remember he brought some tapes of some of the songs he was working on. And it was, like, this guy is this unbelievable guitar player.
“I thought, ‘Eddie, what are you doing on keyboards?’ That was the start of ‘Jump’ and all that other stuff that came afterward. But Eddie was never going to join KISS and was never almost in KISS.”
In 2014, Gene Simmons talked about it:
“That is true. And he was very serious. He was so unhappy about how he and [David Lee] 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.”
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