- Born Name: Kiss
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- Website: http://kissonline.com
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Kiss (often stylized as KISS) is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Easily identified by its members face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date. The band has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States, of which 19 million have been certified by the RIAA, and their worldwide sales exceeds 100 million albums.The 1973-80 lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. 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 Simmonss cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Ace Frehleys Spaceman makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Crisss Catman makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn. Because of creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The bands commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point. 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/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.Kiss has been named to many Top Lists. They include; Number 10 on VH1s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.; 9th on The Greatest Metal Bands list by MTV.; #1 on Hit Paraderss Top 100 Live Bands; 56th on VH1s 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time; and 2nd on Digital Dream Doors Best Hair Metal Bands. Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ten years after becoming eligible. However, on December 15, 2009 it was announced that Kiss did not make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.