When you think of rock music - hard or glam rock to be precise - you can't miss KISS! With more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, the combo founded in New York in 1973 is one of the most successful rock bands ever. Strikingly made-up faces are as much a part of the KISS trademark as thunderous guitar sound, eccentric costumes and spectacular stage shows.
Half a century of hard rock
Few other bands have influenced rock'n'roll and shaped the genre of hard rock as much as KISS. Yet the band's beginnings are rather humble. They go back to the New York rock band Wicked Lester, which was formed in 1971 and renamed KISS two years later.
Elementary school teacher Gene Klein and taxi driver Stanley Eisen, who would later write music history as Gene "The Demon" Simmons and Paul "The Starchild" Stanley, start making music together. Looking for a drummer, they scoured the ads in Rolling Stone magazine and came across drummer Peter Criss. A short time later, lead guitarist Ace Frehley completed the four-piece band.
The first time KISS appeared on stage was in January 1973 - in front of just three paying spectators at the Popcorn Club in the New York borough of Queens. Although the big success in the early years was still a long time coming, KISS shows gradually became more and more popular and the band became more and more well-known.
In the 1970s, the popularity of KISS grew steadily - but with it also the tensions within the band. In 1978, each of the four band members released a solo album in order to live out their individual musical preferences.
Happily for the fans, however, the band continued on after that. With the album "Dynasty" released in 1979, which even goes platinum, KISS land one of their biggest successes. The single "I Was Made For Lovin' You" became the best-selling single of the combo.
The 1980s, on the other hand, were marked by a decline in popularity. As a promotion for their album "Lick It Up", KISS decided to do an unvarnished live performance on MTV in 1983 - with the desired effect: the album was much more successful than its two predecessors "Music From The Elder" (1981) and "Creatures Of The Night" (1982).
The 1990s were generally successful for KISS - the band released three albums between 1990 and 2000, two of them with the original line-up. In the meantime, conflicts and illness lead to several internal changes. In the first decade of the new millennium, KISS continue to tour around the world with a changing line-up. The founding members of the band are inducted in 2014 into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
KISS shows are a firework for eyes and ears
Tickets for KISS concerts promise an unforgettable experience: The untamed, energetic live performances, during which Gene Simmons spits fire or blood - in reality yoghurt coloured with food colouring - are legendary. To this day, KISS are a synonym for the typical eccentricity of hard and glam rock. The band's stage presence is hard to resist as a listener and spectator.
The band members' outlandish costumes, dizzyingly high platform boots and above all their eccentric make-up do the rest and make KISS living legends of rock'n'roll.
KISS on tour for the last time: finale of superlatives
According to frontman Gene Simmons, the last tour of KISS is supposed to be a thank you to all those who have brought the band to where it is today over the last decades. For all those who have not yet had the chance to see the rockers live, the tour offers one last opportunity to experience KISS' brilliant stage show - and for those who were fans from the very beginning, this is a chance to get up close to their idols once again.
