Gene Simmons is to play his first solo show since KISS retired from touring.
The 74-year-old rocker will take to the stage to headline Brazilian rock festival Summer Breeze on April 26 alongside acts including Mr. Big and Sebastian Bach marking his first solo performance away from KISS since the band hung up their platform boots following a final concert at Madison Square Garden in New York in December.
A post on the festival’s Instagram page read: “A few changes were needed to compose the final line-up of the second edition of the festival.
Introducing all of our new rides, additions and changes today.
“We’re happy to welcome Flotsam and Jetsam for the first time in Brazil, icon Gene Simmons and his solo band as Friday’s headliner, and closing the festival … on Sunday, metal legend Mercyful Fate.”
The Gene Simmons band will reportedly include Corey Taylor’s guitarist Zach Throne and Sebastian Bach’s axeman Brent Woods as well as session drummer Brian Tichy, who has played with acts such as Whitesnake, Billy Idol and Foreigner.
The rocker’s performance comes six years after he last toured as a solo act back in 2018.
KISS have stepped away from performing following the final show in the Big Apple, but they surprised fans by debuting digital versions of themselves created by the teams behind the lucrative ‘ABBA Voyage’ hologram show.
They declared the avatars signal the start of a “new era” and Gene has claimed millions of dollars are being pumped into the project.
Speaking during a Q+A at the Electric Lady Studios in New York, he told one fan: “There’s so much being planned, even beyond my comprehension. But they’re spending, oh, about 200 million [dollars] to take it to the next level.”
He said of ABBA’s first-of-its-kind show, he added: “You can’t tell if they’re there, right there, like that.”
In a video posted online after their final concert, Gene explained: “We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamt of before.
“The technology is going to make [rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist] Paul [Stanley] jump higher than he’s ever done before … If you think you are going to get rid of us then that’s not going to happen.”
The band has yet to confirm their exact plans for the avatars, but Paul said it’s a very exciting.
He explained: “I think we’ve transcended over the years being human beings and here we are becoming immortal and it’s very exciting for us … We can’t maintain this [band] indefinitely but you [avatar-makers] can.”