THE BEAST

KISS frontman Paul Stanley says that the band will embark on its "biggest tour" next year.

"A major KISS tour, I would say, starts at the end of January," he revealed during an appearance earlier today (Friday, April 27) on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (see video below). "It hasn't been announced yet, so don't tell anybody," he joked. "Breaking news."

"This will be the biggest tour we've done, the biggest show we've done," he added, according to the CNBC web site, but didn't give any other details.

Rumors of KISS's final run of live shows gained strength a couple of months ago following the news that the band was attempting to trademark the phrase "The End Of The Road." An application from KISS was filed on February 8 to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which — should it be accepted — means that the band could use it in connection with "live performances by a musical band." As it stands now, no official farewell tour has been announced.

As most fans remember, back in 2000 and 2001, KISS already performed a "Farewell Tour". The trek, which was the last to feature drummer Peter Criss, played 142 shows over five legs, covering North America, Japan, and Australia.

In a brand new interview with Australia's News Corp, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons confirmed that he "had nothing to do" with KISS's attempt to trademark "The End Of The Road."

"The god's honest truth is that I've heard this before but I literally had never heard of it until somebody mentioned it and I had nothing to do with it," he said. "So I might learn something, but I know nothing of it. I wouldn't pull your leg, by the way.

"Kiss Catalog [the company that filed 'The End Of The Road' application] is one of our companies, that's true — but we trademark all sorts of things. I own [the phrase] 'Motion Pictures' — I actually do.

"There's always been talk, every tour, that this is the last time.

"Let me put it bluntly: One day we are going to stop and do the last show. I don't know when that is… I still look stunning in real life," he laughed.

"The band's in great shape — Tommy [Thayer, guitar] and Eric [Singer, drums] are fantastic. Everybody finally seems happy with their lot in life."

Stanley admitted that he was behind "The End Of The Road" trademark application, telling journalist Michael Cavacini: "It's not the first trademark that's been filed. I thought it was a terrific name, and I was surprised nobody had used it before. I wanted to make sure that when we used it, and there will be a time that we do, I imagine — I wanted to be sure that we own it and it's ours. When we wanted to go out and do the 'Hottest Show On Earth' tour, Ringling Bros. came to us and said, 'You can't do that.' It set off a light and bell for me. We've always had slogans or sayings that are synonymous with us, and this was another. Everything does end, in one form or another. When it's my time, I want to go out in style, and I want to go out guns blazing. So, when I came up with this idea, I thought let's make sure we tie this up."

Stanley previously said that the band's tumultuous "Farewell Tour" in 2000 was nothing more than an attempt by the group to "put KISS out of its misery" after years of ego clashes and disagreements over songwriting credits between the band's original members.

Back in January, Stanley said that he wasn't sure "about the idea of KISS coming to an end. We've built something that's so iconic, and I think it transcends any of the members so I can certainly see me not being there, seriously." He also spoke about his reasons for wanting to spend less time on the road. "I don't want to go leave home," he said. "I have a family and I have children and, honestly, I think my primary responsibility is to be a dad, and I don't want to miss out on that. And certainly, as we got older, we know that life is finite and I pick and choose what I want to do at this point."