Kiss' Paul Stanley on Rock Hall of Fame: "It's Elitist & Corrupt"
After years of snubs, pioneering hard rock act KISS will finally be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 10 in Brooklyn. Longtime fans might be celebrating the news, but KISS guitarist and co-founder Paul Stanley absolutely doesn't give a sh-t.
"[The Rock Hall] is elitist and it doesn’t reflect the public. It reflects a small group who dictate who meets the criteria that they set up as ‘rock and roll,'" Stanley sneered in an interview with UK's Classic Rock magazine. "[It's] a system which I think is tainted, corrupted and distorted."
The outspoken rocker puts it as bluntly as possibly. "Was it an honor to be nominated? No. It means a lot to the fans because it’s validation for them. So for that reason I accept graciously and accept on their behalf."
While Stanley was careful to say he deeply respects many of the artists currently in the Rock Hall, he finds the organization's criteria to be crazily inconsistent. "There are 30, 40, 50 or some absurd number of Grateful Dead members all inducted," the Starchild said. "But John Rutsey, the drummer on the first Rush album, is not inducted [along with his band]."
To be fair, it's hard to imagine why Stanley would care about a Rock Hall that's throwing him a carrot after ignoring his inarguably influential band for years—everyone from Guns N' Roses to the Replacements to Weezer have cited the makeup-laden rockers as a musical inspiration.
Plus, who cares about silly museums when you have a KISS football team in the works?
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