Michael Sedon | Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — KISS’s Peter Criss is a rock ‘n’ roll legend — a man’s man teens idolize and men want to be.
But for a year, he kept a secret because he didn’t know how fans would view him.
Criss is a breast cancer survivor.
“It was embarrassing to talk about, because it’s not a man thing,” Criss told more than 100 students and faculty members gathered in St. John’s University’s Kelleher Center on Thursday for an event to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
After discovering a painful lump while working out six years ago, he visited his doctor, who initially told him it was nothing to worry about before diagnosing him.
“I was freaked out,” Criss said. “Immediately, I went ‘What? Men don’t get breast cancer.'”