KISS has been forced to cancel the final two Canadian dates on its End of the Road farewell tour because frontman Paul Stanley has taken ill. The affected shows were scheduled to take place last night, November 21, in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, and tonight, November 22, in Toronto.
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Stanley has posted an apology note to fans in the two cities on the band’s social media pages, along with a photo of the singer/guitarist lying in bed in what appears to be a hotel room, with his right arm hooked up to an IV bag.
[RELATED: KISS Celebrating Final Concerts with Series of NYC Takeover Events & Promotions]
“Toronto And Ottawa… I’ve done everything possible to get onstage and be a part of the incredible 2 1/2 hour celebration we planned but this flu has made it impossible,” Stanley wrote. “I along with Gene [Simmons], Tommy [Thayer] and Eric [Singer] couldn’t be more disappointed and send our deepest apologies.”
With the cancelation of the two shows, KISS only has six concerts left on its End of the Road Tour, scheduled for this Friday, November 24 in Knoxville, Tennessee; November 25 in Indianapolis; November 27 in Rosemont, Illinois; November 29 in Baltimore; and December 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
As previously reported, KISS have announced plans for a special series of takeover events, activities, and promotions in their hometown of New York City to celebrate the band’s last-ever shows on December 1 and 2. The promotion will span five days, kicking off on Wednesday, November 29, and running through Monday, December 3.
The various events and promotions include a KISS-themed New York Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden on November 29 that will feature limited-edition KISS x Rangers merchandise being sold; a KISS pop-up store that will open November 30 a few blocks from the Garden; KISS-themed taxi cabs driving around New York; and KISS-branded Metro Cards. For more details about the takeover, visit KISSOnline.com.
In other news, KISS singer/bassist Gene Simmons has joined Neil Young and others in announcing that he will stop posting on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, following online comments by owner Elon Musk that many are deeming anti-Semitic.
In a post on his X page, Simmons wrote, “Friends, I’ve decided to end my X/Twitter posting. From now on find me on: http://instagram.com/genesimmons, http://tiktok.com/@genesimmons, and http://threads.net/genesimmons.”
Simmons, whose birth name is Chaim Witz, is Jewish and was born in Israel. His late mother, Florence Klein, was a survivor of Nazi concentration camps.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for ABA)
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