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FEMUSINDO.com - Kiss is an American Heavy Metal band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals, bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar, vocals) and Peter Criss (drums, vocals).
Known for their face paint and stage costumes, the group rose to fame in the mid-1970s with their shock rock live shows.
Kiss' shows featured fire-spitting, blood-spraying, smoke-spewing guitars, rocket-firing drum kits, and fireworks.
Lineup Changes
The group has undergone several line-up changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members.
Their final line-up consists of Tommy Thayer (lead guitar, vocals) and Eric Singer (drums, vocals).
With their makeup and costumes, the band members took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss).
During the second half of the 1970s, Kiss became one of America's most successful rock bands and a pop culture phenomenon.
Due to creative differences, Criss left the band in 1980, followed by Frehley in 1982. They were replaced by Eric Carr (the Fox) and Vinnie Vincent (the Ankh Warrior).
Success Falls and Rises
The band's commercial success declined in the early 1980s before experiencing a resurgence in 1983, when they began performing without makeup and costumes, marking the beginning of the band's "no mask" era that lasted until 1996.
The first album of this era, 1983's platinum-certified Lick It Up, introduced them to a new generation of fans, and its music videos were regularly played on MTV.
Vincent left the band in 1984, replaced briefly by Mark St. John before Bruce Kulick joined the band for the next twelve years. Eric Carr died in 1991 from heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer.
In response to the wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the original line-up reunited in 1996, which also saw the return of their stage makeup and costumes.
Successful Reunion Tour
The resulting 1996–1997 reunion tour was a huge success, grossing $143.7 million, making it the band's most successful tour.
Criss and Frehley would leave the band again after the 2000–2001 tour, which was intended to be Kiss's final tour at the time.
Criss and Frehley were replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer (Criss rejoined the band from 2002 to 2004).
In a move that proved controversial among fans, Singer and Thayer adopted the original Catman and Spaceman makeup, respectively, rather than having their own unique makeup designs.
After 46 years of recording and performing, Kiss embarked on a four-year farewell tour, the End of the Road World Tour, in January 2019 and retired after performing their final show in New York City in December 2023.
Most Influential Rock Bands
Kiss are considered one of the most influential rock bands of all time, as well as one of the best-selling bands of all time.
They claim to have sold over 75 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums.
Kiss have also earned 30 Gold albums, the most of any American band. Kiss have 14 Platinum albums, three of which have gone multi-Platinum.
On April 10, 2014, the four original members of Kiss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kiss was ranked by MTV as the ninth "Greatest Metal Band of All Time".
They placed tenth on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists", as well as being ranked as the third "Greatest Live Metal and Hard Rock Band of All Time" by Loudwire magazine. (*)
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