Gene Simmons: Vinnie Vincent Headed for ‘More Legal Problems’ Over Kiss Trademark
If you ask Gene Simmons, former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent is "his own worst enemy."
Commenting on Vincent's recent Kiss-related trademark applications, Simmons declared that his former bandmate was "about to get into some more legal problems, because he tried to trademark the makeup and to trademark 'Vinnie Vincent Kiss', the logo."
With Vincent about to play his first show in three decades, the trademark applications suggest that he's possibly planning to put together a new band to play songs from his brief but productive time with Kiss. He has, however, also alluded to reuniting the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, which he led after being fired from Kiss in 1984.
"There's something called the classic failure mechanism, which I was told [about] by doctors and everything — I'm not saying he is one," Simmons said, when asked about Vincent while touring with his own solo band and Vincent's predecessor Ace Frehley in Australia. "But there are people who simply cannot handle when things are starting to go their way — success — so they torpedo it by making stupid decisions to make sure they don't succeed, so they can deal with that."
"Vinnie is a great guy, very talented, and maybe, in my view, his own worst enemy — in my opinion," Simmons added. This April, the duo shared the stage for the first time in decades at the Nashville stop on Simmons' Vault Experience tour.
Vincent's dismissal from Kiss, in part, stemmed from his refusal to sign a contract as an employee throughout his short tenure with the band. The relationship became more acrimonious over time as Vincent sued the band for royalties from the 1983 album Lick It Up, and lost.