KISS

KISS: glam rock of Knights in Satan's Service

KISS is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Easily identified by their trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured firebreathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics. Kiss have been awarded 22 gold albums to date, and have certified sales of 19 million records in the United States. The group's worldwide sales exceed 80 million albums.

The original lineup of Gene Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar and vocals), Paul "Ace" Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters—the Demon (Simmons), the Star Child (Stanley), the Space Ace (Frehley), and the Cat Man (Criss). Due to substance abuse problems and creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point.

In 1983, Kiss abandoned their makeup and enjoyed a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again, and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.

Gene Simmons: "Demon", bass and vocals

Born Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel, Simmons immigrated to New York City in 1957 with his mother — a Hungarian immigrant and the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust — after his father, Feri Witz, abandoned his family. His mother had worked two jobs to make ends meet, and her not being there left some emotional scarring that Gene shares in Family Jewels and his desire to be rich ensues. After immigrating to the U.S., he took the name Gene Klein (Klein having been his mother's maiden name). In the late 1960s, he changed his name again, this time to Gene Simmons, as he felt that "Gene Klein" did not have enough of a ring to it. Gene was heavily influenced by the books, magazines, and comics he read and the movies he saw as a child and later incorporated elements from these influences into his "Demon" character, costume, and gestures on stage. He has cited Lon Chaney Sr. as one of his favorite actors.

Simmons became involved with his first band, Lynx, then renamed The Missing Links when he was a teenager. As time went on he disbanded The Missing Links to form the Long Island Sounds. While he played in these bands he kept up odd jobs on the side to make more money including making fanzines and buying used comic books. Gene then attended Sullivan County Community College in Fallsburg, New York. He then joined a new band Bullfrog Bheer, the band made a demo, "Leeta", which was eventually released on the Kiss box set in demo form.

Simmons formed the rock band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Stanley Eisen (also known as Paul Stanley) and recorded one album, which was never released. Dissatisfied with Wicked Lester's sound and look, Simmons and Stanley went looking for other musicians and eventually joined up with drummer Peter Criscuola and lead guitarist Paul Frehley — who would become Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, respectively. When Simmons and Stanley's attempts to fire their old band members met with resistance, they simply quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They formed a new band with Criss and Frehley, which they soon dubbed Kiss. Kiss released their first self-titled debut album in February of 1974 and have continued to perform to this present day, with Simmons as lead performer on stage and the driving force behind the extensive Kiss merchandising franchise. Kiss has, since their 1974 debut, gone through numerous line up changes, with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons being the only two consistent members. In 1983, while Kiss's fame was waning, they took off their make up and enjoyed a resurgance of popularity throughout the eighties into the nineties. In 1996 the original line up of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, reformed and went on a reunion tour. It was the most successful tour of 1996. They also released their first album with the original line up in 1998 entitled Psycho Circus. Since then the original line up has once again dissolved with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss being replaced by Tommy Thayer on Lead Guitar and Eric Singer (who performed with Kiss from 1992 up through 1996) on Drums.

He has two children with Shannon Tweed - a son, Nicholas (born 22 Jan 1989), and a daughter, Sophie (born 7 Jul 1992). They appear with him on their reality show on A&E.

Paul Stanley: "the Star Child", rhythm guitar and vocals

Stanley Harvey Eisen (born January 20, 1952, Manhattan, New York) aka Paul Stanley, is an American Hard rock guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of most of the band's highest-charting hits, including "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Hard Luck Woman," "I Was Made For Lovin' You," and "Forever."

Before joining Wicked Lester, Paul Stanley was in Rainbow (not Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow) and Uncle Joe. Through a mutual friend of Gene Simmons, Stanley joined Simmons' band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s. The band recorded an album in 1971, but as of 2005 it has never been officially released (although songs from the album appeared on Kiss's 2001 box set). Due to contractual obligations, Stanley and Simmons could not fire the other members of Wicked Lester, so they quit and hired Peter Criss and Ace Frehley and later formed as Kiss shortly thereafter. Kiss released their self-titled debut in February 1974.

Paul's persona in Kiss is "The Starchild." Wearing spandex and platform boots, Stanley's persona is that of a Don Juan-esque lover, combining effeminate elements with elements of extreme masculinity, rather than mere androgyny. Although Paul's voice is generally very soft and eloquent during normal conversation, he uses a specific "stage voice" which is like a "Rock N' Roll Preacher" unlike most leading rock frontmen, he gets the crowd to join the band in many of their classic hits and also tends to give a speech or "scripted" story for certain songs (i.e.having sexual encounters with nurses and other women he's met on tour and how much he supports US troops overseas) much like Gene Simmons adopts an animalistic growl on stage for his Demon persona.

In his book Sex Money Kiss, Gene Simmons admits that Paul was the driving force for Kiss during the makeup-free 1980s, while Simmons was feeling lost without his Demon makeup and attempting to launch a film career.

In 1999 Stanley starred in a Toronto production of Phantom of the Opera, in which he played the role of The Phantom. He appeared in the musical from May 25 to August 1, and again that year from September 30 to October 31. While in Toronto, Stanley was contacted by AboutFace, an organization that provides support and information to individuals with facial differences, and asked to help raise awareness for them. Although he was approached due to his role as The Phantom, Stanley was in fact born with Microtia, a congential deformity of the pinna (outer ear). He has appeared at fundraising events and in videos for the organization.

In 2001 Stanley's wife, Dallas native Pamela Bowen, filed for divorce. They have one son, Evan Shane Stanley.

Stanley badly needed hip replacement surgery but suffered through the Rock The Nation tour first, finally getting the surgery in October 2005. Complications from the surgery required a second in December of that year, and in December 2005 it has been announced that a third hip surgery will be necessary. Stanley regards the degeneration of his left hip as partly the product of thousands of shows performed since the early 1970s. In the "Rock The Nation Live" DVD he spends much more time standing in one place than he has on previous DVDs and tours.

On November 19th 2005, Paul Stanley married longtime girlfriend Erin Sutton at The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington in Pasadena, California. They welcomed their first child 8lb. 6oz. Colin Michael Stanley on Wednesday, September 6, 2006.

Stanley made his debut as a painter in 2005, exhibiting and selling original works of art.

In 2006, Stanley resumed his association with Washburn Guitars and resumed using the Washburn PS2000. Previously, he has had four signature guitars made by Silvertone, and tweaked the Ibanez Iceman to his specifications, calling it the PS10.

Paul "Ace" Frehley: "the Space Ace", lead guitar and vocals

Paul Daniel Frehley, also known as Ace Frehley (born April 27, 1951) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member and lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss. Frehley played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982.

After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked on a moderately successful solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour. His second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion of the band's Farewell Tour. He has since resumed his solo career, although to date he has not released any new music.

Frehley spent the early 1970s in a series of bands, none of which achieved any success. In January 1973, best friend, Bob McAdams, spotted an advertisement for a lead guitarist in the Village Voice. Bob showed the ad to Ace. Both Bob and Ace went to 10 East 23rd Street above the Live Bait Bar. Ace auditioned for the trio of Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (bass guitar) and Peter Criss (drums). Frehley (who showed up wearing one red sneaker and one orange sneaker) (documented in the book Kiss & Tell by Gordon G.G. Gebert and Bob McAdams - isbn# 0-9658794-0-2) was less than impressive visually, but the band liked what they heard from his playing. About three weeks after Frehley auditioned, the new group named him their lead guitarist. By mid-1973, the unnamed band decided on a name - Kiss. Frehley designed the band's unique, double-lightning-bolt logo. The band quickly decided to paint their faces for live performances, and Frehley decided to start painting silver stars on his eyes. When the group eventually decided to adopt stage personas to go with their makeup designs, Frehley became "Space Ace," an alien visitor from the planet of Jendel.

While Kiss spent their early days rehearsing and playing in empty clubs, Frehley took a job as a part-time cab driver to pay his bills. In September 1973, Kiss began to receive a salary from new manager Bill Aucoin that paid each member $75 a week. This enabled Frehley to quit his job.

Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974—Frehley's sole songwriting contribution was "Cold Gin." Due to Frehley's lack of confidence in his own singing voice, however, the vocals were performed by Simmons. Frehley wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs over the next few years but didn't record his vocals on a song until "Shock Me" (inspired following his near-electrocution during a concert), which appeared on 1977's Love Gun.

As lead guitarist, Frehley was known for his frenetic, atmospheric playing, becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the 70s and spawning a generation of new players. Indeed, Frehley stated in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask that many guitarists have told him his playing on 1975's hit Alive! prompted them to pick up the instrument.

Along with the three other Kiss members, Frehley released an eponymous solo album in 1978. His was the best-selling of the four, and the album's lone single (the Russ Ballard written "New York Groove") reached the Top 20 in the United States.

Frehley's songwriting presence within the group increased in 1979, contributing 2 originals and a cover (The Rolling Stones' 2000 Man) for 1979's Dynasty and 3 originals for 1980's Unmasked. While this was not the best time for Kiss on a commercial level in the United States, they were only just beginning to take off in other countries (mostly in Australia where Dynasty and Unmasked are their highest selling albums). But even as his songwriting role within Kiss was increasing, Frehley found himself increasingly at odds with the musical direction of the band. After Peter Criss left Kiss in 1980, Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 in band decisions, as replacement drummer Eric Carr was not a partner in Kiss and had no vote. Frehley's participation in the recording of 1981's Music from "The Elder" was far more limited than with previous albums. This was, in large part, due to his unhappiness with the band's decision to create a concept album rather than a straightforward rock album.

Exacerbating the situation was Frehley's escalating erratic behavior and substance abuse. In April 1982, Frehley was involved in a serious automobile accident (although Anton Fig was the driver). In May, he led police on a 90-mph car chase on the Bronx River Parkway. This incident led to a $600 fine and a six-month suspension of his driver's license. Although Frehley appeared on the covers for 1982's greatest hits album Killers and studio album Creatures of the Night, he had no involvement with either project. Frehley's last appearances with the band were the video for "I Love it Loud," a series of European promotional appearances in November 1982 and a band interview with MTV in early 1983 promoting their world tour.

Peter Criss: "the Cat Man", drums and vocals

Peter George John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945) also know as Peter Criss, is an American musician best known as co-founder and drummer for the rock band Kiss. Criss joined the pre-Kiss group Wicked Lester in 1973, and adopted the stage persona of the Catman when Kiss adopted the use of makeup and costumes.

Criss is given co-writer credit for the ballad "Beth," which was a Top 10 hit for Kiss in 1976, but he in fact did not write the song. A bootleg exists of the song from 1970 written by Stan Penridge during Criss' time in a band called Lips. "Becky" was the name of a bandmate's girlfriend and he called her "Beck," hence the original title of the song before being changed at the request of Gene Simmons. The song was a parody of something Criss' bandmate would say to his girlfriend who would normally call to ask when he was coming home from practice. The song was said to be a tribute to Criss' wife Lydia but in fact was written before Criss had even met the members of Kiss.

During the late 1970s, Criss's problems with substance abuse escalated, and he became increasingly frustrated with his role in the group. Criss left Kiss in May 1980 to begin a solo career. He released three albums over the next 15 years, none of which met with any success.

In 1995, Criss performed with Kiss during their appearance on MTV Unplugged. In April 1996, Kiss held a press conference to announce a reunion tour with all four original members. The 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour was an enormous success, and the reunited Kiss released a studio album, 1998's Psycho Circus.

Criss remained a member of Kiss until 2001, when he left over a contract dispute. He rejoined the band in 2002, but departed again in March 2004 when Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons opted not to renew his contract. Since that time, Criss has kept his public appearances to a minimum. Criss now resides in Wall Township, New Jersey.

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Wikipedia articles about KISS band, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were used as a source.