Certainly, Kiss has been one of the most-merchandised rock bands for decades. Name a product, and chances are, there is some form of it that has either the Kiss logo on it, or the demon, starchild, spaceman, and catman make-up designs.

During an interview on Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson, Kiss’ Gene Simmons discussed the music business. And how important it is for musicians to familiarize themselves with it.

“Unfortunately, most guys that strum guitars never paid attention to truth in advertising,” Simmons said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). It was never called ‘music,’ it was always called ‘music business.’ ‘Yeah, but music is more fun. ‘Business’ is guys with Jewish names.’ Predominantly, yes. ‘But I don’t want to pay attention to that.’ Well, too bad. And so, from the outset, we took care of that. Created trademarks.”

“There was a Kiss before Kiss, they never trademarked the name. You snooze, you lose. ‘I didn’t know that.’ Well, it was your responsibility. You have an inferred fiduciary duty to yourself to find out who, what, when, where, how. Having the right thing at the right place at the right time. That’s your responsibility.”

Simmons also discussed when he first realized that that was a demand for Kiss products other than merely albums and concert tickets. And he has early fans of the band to thank for it.

“We saw fans, early fans or curiosity fans, who started to make their own Kiss t-shirts. They’re telling you what they want, or what they’re willing to pay [for]. So, the audience is always right. And since then, it’s been… Oh my God, over 50 years, and boy do I look good!”

“It’s been over 50 years. And during that time, I get to do the joke, but it’s also true: we’ve had literally thousands of licensed products: everything from Kiss condoms to Kiss caskets. We’ll get you coming, and we’ll get you going.”

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Episode 590. This week Lisa is back AND Izzy joins us to audition to maybe replace Tommy Sommers. As part of his audition Izzy thought doing a short comedy routine would help, did it? What do you think? Is Izzy ready to get called up to the big leagues? You have to let us know… does Izzy make the cut?

Episode 589. We talk about Mark Cicchini being on the show for 10 years. What is your favorite Mark moment or quote? Mike talks about how 3 of his 5 all time favorite bands are essentially no more… KISS, ELO and Molly Hatchet. We are reaching a point where you can no longer count on your favorite bands being there every year with another tour and another album. Hard to imagine.

Happy Anniversary Solo Albums 1978!

\Paul Stanley says the upcoming KISS avatar show will be “beyond anything that anyone else has contemplated”.

Last year saw the glam rockers play their last ever gig and usher in a “new era” by announcing that they’d be getting the avatar treatment.

Now, the 72-year-old musician explained he is confident the show will wow fans after KISS’ catalogue, brand name and IP were acquired by Pophouse Entertainment, the company behind the ABBA Voyage show.

Speaking on Billboard’s podcast Behind The Setlist, he said: “People just are thrilled with [‘Voyage’]. I took my wife last month, and I had seen it last year. So Pophouse understood what we wanted to do and that what we wanna create is something that’s state of the art today.”

The Rock and Roll All Nite rocker added that the technology has improved further since ABBA Voyage launched and said that he’s confident the addition of George Lucas’ Industrial Light Magic, will provide a thrilling experience for fans.

“What I can tell you is that the technology that’s being used, which is a furthering of the technology used on the ABBA show, has to be installed and basically a building has to be built around it,” teased the band’s co-founder.

“So this isn’t something where you’re in Kansas City today, and tomorrow you fly with your projector to do it. It demands an arena, so to speak that’s really solely used for a show like this.”

Despite his excitement for the shows, Stanley is not keen about it being referred to as an “avatar” show.

“That term seems to get thrown around a lot, but the idea of a simulated concert is not what we wanna do,” he said. “Frankly, I would find that that boring. What we’re creating is an immersive experience that KISS fans will love and people who have never been exposed to KISS or might not like certain aspects of the band will have to see.

“It’s a must-see go-to experience. So it’s beyond anything that anyone else has contemplated. The whole idea, again, of doing a simulated concert is — that’s the dark ages to us.”

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Happy Anniversary Asylum!

2024 has been a record-breaking concert season at the Beaver Dam Amphitheatre. From the sold out Oliver Anthony show to the record crowd at the Nelly & Chingy concert, it’s been one of the best seasons in the history of the venue. While there’s still one more show left this year (Hairball on Saturday, September 28th), Beaver Dam Amp officials are already looking ahead to 2025. This morning, they made a huge announcement.

Rock icon Gene Simmons is bringing the Gene Simmons Band to The Dam to kick off the 2025 season. The show is set for Saturday, May 3rd and tickets will go on sale this week.

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Paul Stanley of KISS joined Billboard‘s Behind the Setlist podcast to talk about a wide range of topics. Why the band sold its music royalties and name & likeness to Swedish company Pophouse. How the KISS legacy will live in the coming years. His love of soul music and his band, Paul Stanley’s Soul Station. His feelings about KISS’s final tour. His painting career. And his work with About Face, a Canadian non-profit for people with facial differences.

Listen here!

EXCLUSIVE: McG (Way of the Warrior Kid) is in final negotiations to direct Shout It Out Loud, a biopic about Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and their superstar rock band KISS, which will be produced by STX Entertainment, sources tell Deadline.

STX declined to comment, but we hear the studio is in discussions with Lionsgate to distribute the film worldwide and co-finance. The project previously had been set up at Netflix, following a bidding war, with Joachim Rønning attached to direct, as we first reported in 2021.

No word on the framing the film will take in looking at KISS’s decades-long musical journey. Financed by UMG, the most recent draft of the script is written by Darren Lemke (S

When the deal makes, McG will produce alongside his Wonderland producing partner Mary Viola. Other producers and executive producers for the project include Mark Canton, Leigh Ann Burton, Doc McGhee, UMG’s Jody Gerson and David Blackman, David Hopwood, Courtney Solomon, and Dorothy Canton, along with Simmons and Stanley. Christa Campbell and Annie Herndon are overseeing for STX.

Currently in production on Way of the Warrior Kid, starring Chris Pratt, for Apple and Skydance, McG is expected to move on to Shout It Out Loud when that film completes. Casting is said to be underway as McG is aiming for production to start in the second quarter of 2025.

An iconic band rooted in hard rock and heavy metal, with glam rock influences, KISS was formed in New York City by Stanley, Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in 1973. Known for their signature kabuki-style face paint and larger-than-life, pyrotechnic-filled performances, the band broke out with the the 1975 live album Alive!, which featured the anthem “Rock and Roll All Nite” and solidified their status as one of the era’s top acts. The band’s most successful albums include Destroyer (1976), Love Gun (1977), Alive II (1977) and Dynasty (1979), which produced hits including “Beth,” “Detroit Rock City” and “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” All four band members released solo albums in 1978.

Frehley and Criss departed KISS decades ago, leaving Simmons and Stanley as the lone original members. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, the band spent four years on the road for their farewell “End of the Road” World Tour, officially retiring after their final concert at Madison Square Garden in December.

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In a recent interview with the X5 Podcast, Evan Stanley, Paul Stanley‘s son, shared his thoughts on the experience of opening for his father’s band, KISS, as the lead vocalist of his own rock group, AMBER WILD.

“For us to get to play and then watch them every night, it really makes you up your game and study what you do,” Evan said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “‘Cause you never wanna be another band — you can’t out-KISS KISS — but you can be the best version of you and take away a ton of just ridiculous insight from watching that show. And not only is the show amazing, but it’s the most consistent show I’ve seen. It’s every single night. The difference between a bad night and a great night, it’s like, no, they’re only great nights. It’s, like, they’re different shades of great. And it’s wild to see a band that far into their career where every night they go out and just throw it all down. It’s awesome.”

“I think it’s weird ’cause I grew up, obviously, so close to it. So I didn’t grow up really listening to a ton of KISS,” he continued. “It was more dad’s band and dad’s work. And when I was maybe, like, 17, I was, like, ‘I’ve gotta try my best to… Let me just try and listen the way a fan would or someone.’ So I got KISS Alive, ’cause that seemed to be kind of — everyone talked about that. And I’ll never be able to listen like a pure fan, but I did my best to kind of disconnect, and I’m, like, ‘Whoa, this is actually so sick.’ And then I kind of started listening to some of the earlier records and made my way through the discography.”

“All the theatrics aside, which are awesome, they’re just great songs. If you close your eyes and go to a KISS show, they’re killer, killer players playing great songs. And I think a lot of times people will try and go, ‘Oh, it’s all spectacle. It’s not a real band.’ It’s, like, get up there and try and do that. Good luck. I’m, like, no. They have incredible songs, timeless songs, great, great players, and it’s so cool-looking. And they blow up a million pounds of s**t every show. How do you top that? It’s, like, you’ve got everything.”

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