BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Paul Stanley's longtime guitar tech
Francis Stueber died of COVID-19 on Saturday, October 16. He was only 52 years old.
The
KISS guitarist/vocalist shared the news of his friend's passing in a social media post earlier today. He wrote: "My dear friend, buddy and guitar tech for 20 years,
Fran Stueber died yesterday suddenly of Covid. Both on and offstage I depended on him for so much. 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."
Stueber has worked on all
KISS and
Stanley solo tours and one-off shows since 2002. He even took the stage with the band during the
"Gene Simmons Family Jewels" episode where
KISS performed for the troops, and was on hand when
Stanley cut his 2006 solo album
"Live To Win".
Stueber, who had also worked behind the scenes for
HEART,
THE OFFSPRING and
REO SPEEDWAGON's
Kevin Cronin, told
Gibson in a 2007 interview: "If
Paul goes out of tune, it's not his fault, it's my fault. Usually I change his guitar every four to five songs so he doesn't have to worry about going out of tune. It's pretty straightforward with
KISS;
Paul only plays one tuning and he plays no more than six guitars. Really the only reason I change guitars is for aesthetics."
Last month,
KISS announced rescheduled North American tour dates after the band was forced to postpone five shows due to
Stanley and bassist/vocalist
Gene Simmons testing positive for COVID-19.
In a recent social media post,
KISS said the whole band and the crew members who are traveling with them on the tour are fully vaccinated.
Members of
KISS "and their crew have operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows," the band wrote in the statement. "The tour also has a COVID safety protocol officer on staff full-time that is ensuring everyone is closely following all
CDC guidelines," the statement continued.