KISS

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KISS is regarded as one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all-time. Their career milestones are staggering. KISS holds honors as one of America’s top gold record champions, recording 36 albums over 32 years selling over 75 million albums worldwide.

Over thirty years of record-breaking tours around the globe include high-profile appearances at Super Bowl XXXIII, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and most recently, the 2005 Rockin’ The Corps concert dedicated to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The KISS legacy continues to grow, generation after generation, transcending age, race and creed. The unparalleled devotion and loyalty of the KISS Army to the “Hottest Band in the World” is a striking testament to the band’s unbreakable bond with its fans.

Early 1970s - KISS traces its roots to Wicked Lester, a New York-based rock and roll band led by co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Unhappy with the direction of Wicked Lester, Simmons and Stanley part ways with the other members in 1972 after Epic Records rejected an album recorded by the group.

Late 1972 - Simmons spots an ad in Rolling Stone placed by Peter Criss, a drummer “looking to do anything to make it”. Criss auditions and begins rehearsing with Simmons and Stanley as a trio.

January 1973 - Simmons, Stanley and Criss audition lead guitarist Ace Frehley. That same month the Wicked Lester name is dropped and the band becomes KISS. Stanley is credited with coming up with the name, while Frehley designs the original version of the now-famous KISS logo.

January 30, 1973 - KISS play their first show at a club in Queens, NY called Popcorn.

June 1973 - KISS records a five-song demo tape with producer Eddie Kramer, which winds up in the hands of former teen pop singer and Buddah Records executive Neil Bogart.

August 1973 - After a handful of showcase concerts in the summer of 1973, former TV director Bill Aucoin is hired to become the band’s manager. With the help of Aucoin, KISS becomes the first act signed to Bogart's new label, Casablanca Records.

October 10, 1973 - The band enters Bell Sound Studios in New York City and begins recording their first album.

December 31, 1973 - KISS play concert at the Academy of Music in New York City. Simmons sets his hair ablaze while performing his newly inaugurated fire-breathing stunt.

February 5, 1974 - KISS begins first North American tour in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, as an opening act.

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