KISS legends Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are facing a lawsuit in connection to COVID-19 death of one of their longtime employees.
Francis Stueber, who had worked for the band as a guitar technician for about 20 years, passed away on October 17, 2021, two days after contracting the virus while on tour with Kiss.
Stueber’s family maintain Stanley first contracted the coronavirus in August 2021 and then it spread amongst the different tour personnel, according to the legal documents obtained by TMZ.
They blame the spread of the virus within the band and its workers on lax safety policies on the tour.
The Stueber family went on to claim that the Kiss policy for any of the employees who contracted COVID-19 was for them to quarantine in a hotel room in whichever city the band was in at the time, and little else.
Slapped with suit: Kiss co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were named in a lawsuit filed by the family of late longtime guitar tech Francis Stueber
Stueber had tested positive for the virus while the band had been in Detroit, and as part of their protocol got a room at a local Sheraton hotel.
In the suit, the plaintiffs claim Kiss longtime manager Doc McGhee failed to arrange for medial personnel to visit and examine him at the hotel in a timely manner, as had been promised.
They went on to accuse McGhee of asking another tour member to check on the guitar tech, who was already died by the time that person arrived two days later.
Along with Stanley, Simmons was also reportedly stricken with coronavirus while out on the Kiss tour, TMZ reported.
Upon learning of his death, the band’s singer and guitarist took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share his condolences.
‘My dear friend, buddy and guitar tech for 20 years, Fran Stueber died yesterday suddenly of Covid,’ he wrote. ‘Both on and offstage I depended on him for so much.’
Stanley concluded, ‘My family loved him as did I. He was so proud of his wife and 3 boys as they were of him. I’m numb.’
Simmons, Stanley, McGhee, Marriott hotels and Live nation were all named in the suit as to be liable for damages.
Heartbreaking: Upon learning of Stueber’s death Stanley took to X ( formerly known as Twitter) to share his condolences
On the way out: Kiss have been out on what they claim is their final tour before disbanding, which they maintain will likely end with their last show sometime in 2024
At this point, none of the accused or their representatives have responded to the complaints in the lawsuit.
Known for their face paint and stage outfits, Kiss rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock-style live performances that featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics.
They would go on to sell more than 75 million albums en route to becoming one of the best-selling and influential musical artists of all time.
The band have been out on what they claim is their final tour before disbanding, which they maintain will likely end with their last show sometime in 2024.
