Kiss (often stylized as KIϟϟ) is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by
Paul Stanley,
Gene Simmons,
Ace Frehley, and
Peter Criss. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid–late 1970s with its shocking live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with
Stanley and
Simmons being the only members to feature in every lineup. The original and best-known lineup consists of
Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar),
Simmons (vocals and bass),
Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and
Criss (drums).
With their make-up and costumes, the band members took on the personae of comic book-style characters: the Starchild (
Stanley), the Demon (
Simmons), the Spaceman or Space Ace (
Frehley), and the Catman (
Criss). Due to creative differences,
Criss had departed the band in 1980, and
Frehley in 1982.
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. The band experienced a commercial resurgence during this era, with the Platinum-certified album
Lick It Up successfully introducing them to a new generation of fans, and its music videos receiving 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 its makeup and stage costumes. The resulting reunion tour was highly successful, grossing $143.7 million, making it the band's most successful tour to date.
Criss and
Frehley subsequently left the band again, and have been replaced by
Singer and
Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band has continued with its 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, it would embark on its final tour, the End of the Road World Tour, which started in January 2019 and is currently set to conclude in 2022.
Kiss is regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of all time, as well as one of the best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums. Kiss has also earned 30 Gold albums, the most of any band from the United States. Kiss has 14 Platinum albums, three if which earned 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 magazine.
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en.wikipedia.org
