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In the early 1970s, two members of New York rock band Wicked Lester, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, struck out to start a new group named Kiss (often stylized as KIϟϟ). The band recruited drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley. The band was well known for its member’s face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to a greater prominence in the mid to late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured smoking guitars, levitating drum kits, fire breathing, blood-spitting and pyrotechnics.
The band’s first gig as KISS was at the Popcorn Club in Queens, New York, on Jan. 30, 1973. The band members outnumbered the audience of three. It wasn’t until a couple months later that the group began to develop their signature look. During performances at The Daisy in Amityville, New York, on March 9 and 10, the band took to the stage with striking black and white makeup. Each member’s make-up and costumes reflected a unique character and personality like Stanley’s heady romantic “Starchild,” Simmons’ twisted and cynical “Demon,” Criss’ nine-lived “Catman,” and Frehley’s extraterrestrial “Space Ace.”
"I just remember being in a loft in downtown New York, and looking in the mirror and just starting to draw. It was very stream-of-consciousness. What you see is really what just happened." -GENE SIMMONS
"I dip my fingers into the tub of white goo and start applying it all over my face, leaving some space open around my right eye, where the rough outline of the star will be. Once the white is on, I take the pointed end of a beautician’s comb, one with a metal point, and sketch the outline of the star, freehand, around my right eye. It leaves a line through the white makeup. Then with a Q-tip I clean up the inside of the star. I also clean up the shape of my lips." -PAUL STANLEY
In 1983, Kiss began performing without makeup and costumes, thus marking the beginning of the band's "unmasked" era that would last for over a decade. They accordingly experienced a commercial resurgence, with the platinum certified album Lick It Up successfully introducing them to a new generation of fans, and their music videos received regular airplay on MTV. Eric Carr, who had replaced Criss in 1980, died in 1991 of heart cancer and was replaced by Eric Singer. In response to a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the mid-1990s, the original lineup re-united in 1996, which also saw the return of their makeup and stage costumes. The resulting Alive/Worldwide Tour was highly successful, grossing $143.7 million, making it their most successful tour to date. Criss and Frehley have both since left the band again and have been replaced by Singer and Tommy Thayer. The band has continued with their original stage makeup, with Singer and Thayer using the original Catman and Spaceman makeup, respectively. In September 2018, Kiss announced that, after 45 years of recording and performing, they would be embarking on their final tour, The End of the Road World Tour, in 2019. The tour's final show will take place on July 17, 2021 in New York City where the band had formed 48 years earlier.
Kiss is one of the best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums. Kiss also holds the title as America's #1 Gold record award-winning group of all time, having earned 30 Gold albums. Kiss has 14 Platinum albums, with three albums being 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", and placed tenth on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, as well as being ranked as the third "Best Metal and Hard Rock Live Band of All Time" by Loudwire.
Kiss have typically been classified under the genres of hard rock, shock rock, and heavy metal. Most of their '70s albums, particularly the first six released between 1974 and 1977 as well as 1982's Creatures of the Night and 1984's Animalize, featured a hard rock or traditional heavy metal style. 1979's Dynasty and 1980's Unmasked featured a more disco/pop rocksound, and 1981's Music from "The Elder" found the band dabbling in progressive rock. In 1983, starting with Lick It Up and the removal of their trademark make-up, the band began incorporating elements of glam metal into their sound and visual image. Later, in the early 1990s, their sound grew heavier and abandoned the glam metal sound. In the mid-1990s, the band returned to their original sound.
Their music is described as "a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock, driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, cloying melodies, and sweeping strings. It was a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late 1980s." The first review of Kiss by Rolling Stone, in 1973, described the band as "an American Black Sabbath". The same magazine's review of Hotter than Hell stated that "with twin guitars hammering out catchy mondo-distorto riffs and bass and drums amiably bringing up the rear, Kiss spews forth a deceptively controlled type of thunderous hysteria." At the same time, Bennington Banner from Rock Music magazine said, "With its members' bizarre, Kabuki-like makeup, studded black leather costumes and arsenal of on-stage firepower – both musical and literal – Kiss represents the most extreme form of hard rock in 1974."
Members
Current
Paul Stanley – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar (1973–present)
Gene Simmons – lead and backing vocals, bass (1973–present)
Eric Singer – drums, backing and lead vocals (1991–1996, 2001−2002, 2004–present)
Tommy Thayer – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals (2002–present)
Ace Frehley – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals (1973–1982, 1996–2002)
Peter Criss – drums, backing and lead vocals (1973–1980, 1996–2001, 2002–2004)
Eric Carr – drums, backing and lead vocals (1980–1991; his death)
Vinnie Vincent – lead guitar, backing vocals (1982–1984)
Mark St. John – lead guitar, backing vocals (1984; died 2007)
Bruce Kulick – lead guitar, backing vocals (1984–1996)
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