Kiss Not Dead

Legendary personalities dint memories in hearts of their fans and supporters and the Kiss band is the prove. Though Kiss has been disbanded, it has influenced music and fashion styles of many band-followers, through their live performances, featuring firebreathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics are hard to reestablish.

The American rock band was formed in 1973 in the New York City by Gene Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar and vocals), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals). 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). They came up with image while being out for a drink the other night. The band’s name has been rumored to have many hidden meanings, among them an acronym for "Knights In Satan’s Service." The band has consistently denied this, stating that Paul Stanley simply chose the name on the spur of the moment. Their gig brought them fame.

Kiss released first two studio albums Kiss and Hotter Than Hell both in 1974. Released on September 10, 1975, Alive!, achieved quadruple platinum status, and spawned Kiss’s first top 40 single, a live version of "Rock And Roll All Nite. The success of Alive! not only brought Kiss the breakthrough they had been seeking, but arguably saved Casablanca, which was close to bankruptcy. During this period, Kiss merchandise became a substantial source of income for the group. Some of the products released included a pair of comic books issued by Marvel, a pinball machine, Kiss dolls, "Kiss Your Face Makeup" kits, Halloween masks and board games. Between 1977 and 1979, worldwide merchandise sales reached an estimated $100 million

In 1978 Kiss was at its commercial peak. The band members faced a chance to showcase their individual musical styles and tastes outside of Kiss and released their solo albums. It was the first time that all current members of a rock band had released solo albums at the same time. The 1980’s Music from the Elder was crucially slammed by music experts. Being rejected by their fans the band members resolved it was a time for a change. Kiss made the decision to abandon their trademark makeup and costumes. They officially appeared in public without makeup for the first time on a September 18, 1983 appearance on MTV and retuned the lost glory and recognition, which convoyed them to 1998, until their final split.