“My Dad The Rock Star,” the animated series conceived by KISS frontman Gene Simmons, charmed audiences for two seasons with its humorous take on a rock star dad and his family. Despite its popularity and good ratings on Nelvana/Nickelodeon, the show was abruptly cancelled, leaving fans wondering why. The answer, as it turns out, involves a behind-the-scenes drama with Simmons’ KISS bandmate, Paul Stanley, and a clash over creative control and band agreements.
The story begins during KISS’s Farewell Tour in 2000. Gene Simmons, known for his entrepreneurial spirit, saw potential in the animation world, particularly with Nelvana, a studio he admired. His initial idea was to create a cartoon featuring KISS themselves. However, this required the consent of all band members, most importantly Paul Stanley. Stanley, uninterested in dedicating months to a children’s cartoon, declined to participate. The idea was shelved, but it didn’t disappear entirely.
Simmons then transformed the concept into bedtime stories for his children, Nick and Sophie. These tales, centered around a rock star father, became a family favorite and were eventually compiled into a book, a unique, single-copy edition just for his loved ones. This book, filled with the charm of a rock and roll dad, became the foundation for the revived Nelvana project. Nelvana executives were enthusiastic about this new direction, recognizing its potential for a successful animated series. Nickelodeon soon joined the project, and the show, “My Dad the Rock Star,” began to take shape. Gene Simmons personally selected Lawrence Byrne to voice the character of Rock Zilla, the cartoon’s rock star dad.
However, the project caught the attention of Paul Stanley, and he was far from pleased. According to both the Wikipedia article on “My Dad the Rock Star” and Stanley’s 2014 memoir, “Face the Music,” Stanley believed Simmons was proceeding with a KISS-related project without his consent, despite the earlier rejection of the KISS cartoon idea. Stanley confronted Simmons, stating, “I thought I got this shut down. You know you can’t do anything regarding Kiss without my consent.” Simmons reportedly countered that “My Dad the Rock Star” was a separate entity, distinct from KISS. Stanley, however, saw through this, famously retorting, “Gene, you think I’m a fucking idiot? That character is you!”
Stanley’s perspective, detailed in “Face the Music,” sheds light on the underlying tensions in his relationship with Simmons. He candidly describes Simmons’s self-promotional image as a shrewd businessman as largely fabricated, accusing Simmons of taking credit for marketing ideas he wasn’t involved in and frequently acting unilaterally, disregarding the impact on KISS. Stanley recounts instances, particularly in the 1980s, where Simmons’s solo ventures negatively affected his songwriting contributions to KISS albums, often resulting in subpar material that Stanley had to compensate for. He also points to Simmons’s tendency to deny or misrepresent his own words when confronted, a habit Stanley humorously labels, “If James Brown was The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, than Gene Simmons was, by his account, The Most Misquoted Man In Show Business. I didn’t buy it.”
At the heart of the dispute was an unspoken agreement within KISS: decisions concerning the band’s image and brand required consensus from all key members, especially Stanley and Simmons. Paul Stanley viewed “My Dad the Rock Star,” with its Gene Simmons-esque character, as a violation of this agreement, regardless of Simmons’s insistence that it was a separate project. As Stanley succinctly puts it, “The thing got settled quickly. Fairness prevailed, but not by Gene’s volition.” The implication is clear: Paul Stanley intervened legally, effectively shutting down further production of “My Dad the Rock Star.”
So, who was in the right? Did Paul Stanley have legitimate grounds to accuse Gene Simmons of overstepping and potentially harming the KISS brand, or did he overreact, prematurely ending a well-loved children’s show based on past grievances and mistrust? The cancellation of “My Dad the Rock Star” remains a fascinating case study in the complexities of creative control, band dynamics, and the delicate balance between individual ambition and collective agreements within the world of rock and roll.
