KISS

KISS is an American rock band known for their distinctive face paint and outfits, hard hitting rock 'n' roll style and lavish stage shows which include fire breathing, pyrotechnics, exploding guitars and fireworks. With a mix of songs about women and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, and stage shows that are highly energetic and theatrical, the band won over legions of fans primed to party.

KISS released almost 20 studio albums, and all four members released a solo album on the same day in a similar KISS style (these are also usually considered to be KISS albums). KISS have sold almost 100 million albums, performed countless sold-out stadium tours, and used their distinctive style to launch many successful lines of band merchandise.

The band's breakthrough was 1975's live album Alive!, which stayed in the American charts for more than two years, and sold over four million copies. Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun were all million-sellers as KISS became one of America's most popular bands. They also began to sell all kinds of KISS-related merchandise, including comic books featuring the band members, dolls, make-up kits and board games. They've lent their likeness to 3000+ items including condoms and caskets.

However, the plan to release four simultaneous solo albums backfired as fans could not afford to purchase all four. They each sold poorly and KISS slowly went into a decline. In 1978, KISS starred in their own TV movie, but it was universally panned. It seemed as though KISS had run their course, but the world underestimated KISS.

Despite tensions increasing within the band, which lead to Peter Criss and Ace Frehley's departure, remaining founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley added a new drummer and guitarist and continued to tour to large crowds and sell reasonably well. In 1983, the band took off their costumes and make-up and appeared as a 'normal' rock band for the first time.

With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" because of his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." The "Demon" makeup reflected Simmons' cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Ace Frehley's "Spaceman" makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss' "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn.

The album Lick It Up, released in 1983 with Criss and Frehley's replacements, was KISS' best-selling in three years, but fewer people were attending their live shows, indicating that the theatricality was what fans enjoyed most. The band continued to struggle through the 1980s, and were devastated when drummer Eric Carr died in 1991, after battling cancer.

In the mid-90s there was a minor KISS revival, thanks in part to nostalgia for the bands' heydey in the 1970s. Yet in 1996 at the Grammy Awards, KISS made a shock comeback, with full make-up and costumes, supported briefly by original bandmates Criss and Frehley. They went back out on the road and the resulting KISS Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. They released two more studio albums, although the connection with Criss and Frehley did not last.

Internal conflicts again began to arise in the early 2000's leading to Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer taking over drumming and guitar duties respectively.

The band put out a new studio album, Sonic Boom, in 2009 which debuted at No. 2 on the Top 100 album charts. The band undertook a tour to celebrate 35 Years of the band, and to support the new album, called the "Alive/35" tour and a new studio album is expected in 2011.