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Kiss was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Known for their face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock–style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. The band went through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members. The final lineup consisted of them, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
Gene Simmons is an American musician. Also known by his stage persona "The Demon", he was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the early 1970s until their retirement in 2023. Simmons was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
Paul Stanley is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retirement in 2023. He was the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular songs. Stanley established The Starchild character for his Kiss persona. Stanley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
George Peter John Criscuola, better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and an occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established the Catman character for his Kiss persona. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Kiss.
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley formed his own band named Frehley's Comet and released two albums with the group. He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour.
Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Chaim Witz and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to avoid confusion with another local band named "Rainbow". Although it secured a record deal with Epic Records and recorded an album, the deal fell through and the band fell apart during 1972. Witz and Eisen, feeling that the band's failure was a result of its lack of vision and direction, decided to found a new band from its remnants. They changed their stage names to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, respectively, auditioned a new drummer and lead guitarist, and formed the band Kiss by the end of January 1973.
Kiss is the debut studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on February 18, 1974, by Casablanca Records. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-Kiss band Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just 13 days.
Love Gun is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top 5 album on the Billboard 200. The album was remastered in 1997 and again in 2014.
Creatures of the Night is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memory of Casablanca founder and early Kiss supporter Neil Bogart, who had died of cancer during the recording sessions. It is also the band's last album recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member and their first album with Vinnie Vincent, as the initially uncredited lead guitarist. Vincent would later be credited but not featured on the cover of the 1985 reissue of the album. It was also Kiss' last album to feature the band with their trademark makeup until the release of Psycho Circus in 1998.
Crazy Nights is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, recorded from March to June 1987 and released on September 21, 1987, by Mercury worldwide and Vertigo in the UK. This was the second album to feature the line-up of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Carr. The album is notable for its pop-metal sound as well as for its use of keyboards and synthesizers, a reflection of popular trends in the commercial rock genre of this time. It was re-released in 1998 as part of the Kiss Remasters series and is the last Kiss album to have been remastered.
Psycho Circus is the eighteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss and the first and only album to involve all four original members since 1979's Dynasty. While touted as a band effort, Peter Criss only played drums on the Ace Frehley-penned track, "Into the Void", and guitarist Frehley only played on two regular album tracks, the one he wrote plus "You Wanted the Best". He also played on a bonus track called "In Your Face", penned by Simmons. All four band members, however, sang lead vocals on the album.
Kiss Unplugged is a live album by the American rock band Kiss, released in 1996. It was recorded in studio for the television program MTV Unplugged and released as part of a series of live and video albums. It is the first Kiss live album that is not part of the Alive! series.
Alive! is the fourth album overall, and the first live album, by American hard rock band Kiss, released on September 10, 1975. It is considered to be their breakthrough, and a landmark for live albums. The double-album contains live versions of selected tracks from their first three studio albums, Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill. It was recorded at concerts in Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Wildwood, New Jersey; and Davenport, Iowa on May 16, June 21, July 20 and 23, 1975.
Kiss: Psycho Circus is a comic book series published by American companies Image Comics and Todd McFarlane Productions. It was written by Brian Holguin and illustrated by various artists, including pencillers Angel Medina and Clayton Crain with inker Kevin Conrad. It portrays the members of the rock band Kiss as supernatural beings known as the Four-Who-Are-One or The Elder: the Demon, the Starbearer, the King of Beasts or Beastking and the Celestial.
"Christine Sixteen" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss. It originally appeared on their 1977 album Love Gun. Released as a single in the US in 1977, the song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year, and did well in Canada, peaking at number 22.
The American rock band Kiss has licensed a large amount of merchandising throughout their career. According to Sandra O'Loughlin in an article for Brandweek magazine, "Kiss has licensed its name to more than 3,000 product categories, from lunch boxes and comic books to credit cards and condoms to become nearly a one-billion-dollar brand."
Action figures have been an important and integral staple of the vast merchandising empire created around popular American rock band, Kiss. Kiss merchandising currently includes more than 2,000 product categories, and the limited availability of many products means that is a popular area of interest with collectors.
"Nothin' to Lose" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, released on their self-titled debut album in 1974. It is the first single the band had ever released and the first single off the album, with "Love Theme from KISS" as the B-side. Although the song failed to chart, it has remained a concert staple during the 1970s and was featured on many live albums and compilations.
Comic books have been an integral and popular part of the American rock group Kiss' merchandising since 1977, beginning with their appearance in Marvel Comics' Howard the Duck #12. Over their career of nearly four decades, Kiss has licensed their name to "more than 3,000 product(s). .. to become nearly a one-billion-dollar brand."
The End of the Road World Tour was the final concert tour by the American rock band Kiss. The tour began on January 31, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada and concluded on December 2, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, United States. This was the final concert tour to feature the final band lineup with founding members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, as well as Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and Eric Singer on drums.
References
- ↑ "Kissfanzine.com - A blog about Kiss, Kiss books and Kiss collecting in general". www.kissfanzine.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ↑ "Search Results - Harper Collins Australia". harpercollins.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ↑ www.Kissmonsterbook.com https://web.archive.org/web/20120708080506/http://www.kissmonsterbook.com/about-the-book/. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ results, search; Simmons, Mr Gene; Stanley, Paul (10 September 2013). Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS. It Books. ISBN 978-0062131720.
