Kiss Announces Farewell Tour on 'America's Got Talent'

During last night's (September 19) airing of "America's Got Talent", KISS confirmed its final series of live concerts. Details have not been revealed yet, but the "End of the Road" tour is expected to begin in 2019. A banner on the official KISS site promises more details soon.

"This is going to be our last tour," the band said. "It will be the most explosive and biggest show we have ever made. People who love us, come and see us. If you have never seen us, this is the moment. This will be the show!"

Kiss had already touted a tour as the last. They embarked on a second tour in 2000 after their 1996 reunion with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, calling it "The Farewell Tour." But it turned out to be the last with the original quartet, even though Criss left the tour before reaching Asia and Australia. The current lineup, consisting of Paul Stanley (guitar), Gene Simmons (bass), Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums), has been intact since 2004.

Speculation began in February, when Stanley said his priorities were now with his family, and that there was even a possibility that Kiss could continue without any of the two remaining founding members. Shortly thereafter, they filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to reserve the rights to the phrase "The End of the Road" with respect to "live performances by a musical band".

Two months later, Stanley revealed that Kiss was in the process of planning "the biggest tour we've ever made , the biggest show we've ever made", with a starting date projected for January 2019. But he discarded the idea that it's the last, saying that the registered trademark was just to make sure to own the rights when the time came.

After years of public battles, with Stanley and Simmons on one side and Frehley and Criss on the other, the original line-up met in 2014 for Kiss's entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though it did not work. Since then, relations have improved considerably, and the two current members appear on Frehley's solo albums.

Simmons has also invited Frehley and Criss, as well as two other former Kiss members, Bruce Kulick and Vinnie Vincent, to join him at various stops on their "Vault Experience" tour.