KISS will launch their European MONSTER Tour next Saturday, June 1st at the massive Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden!

EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:

June 1 - Stockholm, Sweden
June 3 - Helsinki, Finland
June 6 - Solvesborg, Sweden
June 8 - Stavanger, Norway
June 11 - Copenhagen, Denmark
June 12 - Berlin, Germany
June 14 - Prague, Czech Republic
June 15 - Vienna, Austria
June 17 - Udine, Italy
June 18 - Milan, Italy
June 20 - Zurich, Switzerland
June 22 - Clisson, France

CLICK HERE to visit the KISS Tour page for venue information with links to tickets and Meet & Greet packages.

Check out these cool photos of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in Mannheim, Germany in 1976.

CLICK HERE to view more photos from the 1976 KISS show.


Thanks to KISS NEWS for the link!

KISS AT ROCK HONORS

On this day in KISStory - May 25, 2006, KISS closed ROCK HONORS, which also featured Queen, Def Leppard and Judas Priest as inaugural honorees of "VH1 Rock Honors." "VH1 Rock Honors" was launched by the network to pay homage to the gods of hard rock! The event took place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and included live performances by each of the bands.

KISS performed "Detroit Rock City," "Deuce," "Love Gun" and an unscheduled "Makin' Love." Right before the KISS set, an ALL STAR band featuring Ace Frehley, Rob Zombie, Tommy Lee, Scott Ian, Gilby Clarke and Slash ripped through a brutal version of "God of Thunder" honoring KISS.

Here's "Deuce" from Rock Honors.

By Donna Donna

If you were in high school in the 70s could you ever have imagined Kiss showing up at your school to perform? Well that’s what happened in 1975, at Cadillac High School in Michigan.

Here’s how the story goes, the school’s football team was struggling until they started cranking up Kiss in the locker room before games. After winning seven games in a row to become conference co-champs the team credited their success to Kiss. The band heard about the team and in 1975, visited the school and performed there during homecoming weekend.

Now the story is in the process of being tuned into a film. Vh1 Radio caught up with Gene Simmons last week at the opening of his new Rock & Brews restaurant in California and gave them an update on the status of the film: “There’s a gentleman named Mark Johnson who’s a producer, who’s produced the Narnia movies as well as other things. There have been some meetings. You know, they don’t call it development hell for nothing. It’s hell to launch anything and he’s almost there, the financing is almost there.” Gene went on to say, “I mean there’s a script, I read some of it. It’s about Cadillac. Kiss is part of the culture, the inspirational story about how a nowhere, nobody football team scaled to heights by infusing their blood with Kiss blood.” Gene added, “We are not producing this movie, by the way, this happened naturally out of Hollywood.”

The KISS Army Norway fan community will host a KISS pre-concert fan party with special guests Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer on Friday, June 7th at Gaffel Karaffel, located at the city centre of Stavanger. Starting time is 6 PM.

Eric and Tommy will be available for photos (bring your own camera), and will autograph ONE item. They will also hold a Q&A with the fans.

A KISS Tribute band will also perform. KISSONLINE will attend the event!

http://www.kissarmynorway.com/

This event is run by the fans for the fans!

KISS released their Dynasty album on May 23, 1979 – exactly 34 years ago today.

Here are 10 facts you may not know about the album:

1. The decision to use Vini Poncia as producer came about from the band wanting to smooth over the declining situation with Peter Criss. Vini had produced Peter’s solo album and he [Peter] had demanded that Vini produce the next Kiss record (another considered choice was apparently the disco guru Giorgio Moroder). This tactic would backfire when Vini decided that Peter’s drumming was not good enough for the album. [Anton Fig drums on all tracks except for Dirty Livin'.]

2. Notable acts Vini produced, prior to Kiss, included Melissa Manchester and Leo Sayer.

3. The disco-fied I Was Made For Lovin’ You was inspired by Paul Stanley’s visits to New York’s legendary Studio 54 nightclub. Kiss’ record label, Casablanca, gave the piece the full disco treatment and released it in the popular extended 12-inch single format. This resulted in the track growing in length to 7 minutes, 54 seconds.

4. Gene Simmons wasn’t crazy about I Was Made For Lovin’ You but he still wanted Kiss to record it. He said: “He [Paul] came in one day and said, ‘Look, I’ve got this disco song, and it goes like this.’ And he started singing like the Four Seasons. I thought, ‘That doesn’t sound like Kiss, but that’s precisely why we should record it.’”

KISS DYNASTY ALBUM RELEASED

On this day in KISSTORY - May 23rd, 1979, KISS released their DYNASTY album.The album features KISS' first international top 5 smash hit, "I Was Made For Lovin' You". This song was the first collaboration between Paul Stanley and Desmond Child for KISS. Though known for that great disco song, other more rockin' DYNASTY tracks included "X-Ray Eyes", "Save Your Love", "Magic Touch" and "Hard Times". The album is filled with some of KISS' most melodic and catchy hooks. Led by the success of "I Was Made For Lovin' You", DYNASTY spent 25 weeks on the charts peaking at #9 and was certified Platinum by July!

Except for Peter Criss's sole appearance on "Dirty Livin", which featured his lead vocals and drumming, it was Anton Fig who handled the drums on all other songs on DYNASTY.

KISS released two promotional videos for DYNASTY, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" and the great Paul Stanley pop rocker "Sure Know Something".

DYNASTY Track Listing:

I Was Made For Lovin' You / 2,000 Man / Sure Know Something / Dirty Livin' / Charisma / Magic Touch / Hard Times / X-Ray Eyes / Save Your Love

Here's the Dynasty TV commercial:



Here's the "I Was Made For Lovin' You" music video:

I just wanted to share my achievement with my favorite band in the world. Everyone at my college knows me at "KISS GUY" because that is ALL I wear is KISS clothes. Everyone knows I am a die hard KISS fan from the tattoos and KISS stories I tell. Anyways, I am a music education major at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and I made my own arrangement of "Beth" for a Tuba Trio I put together. I am Gene, Zach is Paul, and Cody is Peter. It was AMAZING.

Everyone who performs at this is very "proper" and "professional." KISS has taught me to push the boundaries. NO ONE HAS EVER went on stage like this to perform here. Thank you KISS for giving me the balls to live my life how I want and have FUN!!

Curtis Fulks

LETTERS

Dear KISS,

I wanted to let you know how our relay went. We raised over $10,000 to support the American Cancer Society in the Relay for Life held in Palm Harbor. We almost got rained out but all the teams moved to an indoor facility and kept the relay alive. I wanted to thank you again for all your support of charities and using your awesomeness to give back!

Big Fan,
Erika Lance Captain of Team KISS (Cancer Goodbye)

LETTERS

KISS Solos #3 (of 4): The Celestial

Chris Ryall (w) • Alan Robinson (a) • Angel Medina (c)

“Fractured Mirror”—the penultimate KISS SOLO issue turns the spotlight on the Celestial. This tale of galaxy-spanning high adventure sees the most spaced-out of the Four-Who-Are-One caught up in a battle against twisted alien pirates and… himself…? The odds are long and the stakes high in this standalone, spare-faring story!

WE ARE WITH YOU!

To all our loyal fans, friends and their families devastated by the recent tornado activity in the U.S., we stand side by side with you in support, and you will remain in our prayers through this time of tragedy.

Donate to the Red Cross' disaster relief fund HERE.

Photo: AOL.com

Here are some of the many great fan-created designs already submitted to the first ever BandJob Brawl.

Rock Gods KISS have teamed up with the quality-at-all-costs design community, www.BandJob.com, for a no-holds-barred Design Brawl to create the next iconic KISS t-shirts. The THREE designers left standing at the end of this Brawl will each receive $1,000 cash, two tickets to see KISS live in concert, a chance to meet the band, and a print of their winning design signed by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley!

Professionals and amateurs alike are welcomed to submit their best work. Head over to www.BandJob.com to find out more and submit your design!

Don't design? You can still have a hand in choosing your next favorite KISS shirt. Sign up for an account at www.BandJob.com and vote for the entries you want to wear!

Band Job is an online community created by and for professional designers working in the music industry. It's a place to showcase your work, talk shop, and learn from the best in the business.

Not a designer? Band Job is a great place for all enthusiasts and supporters of visual arts in music. Learn more about the art behind your favorite bands. Check out great merch designs, awesome album covers, and other amazing art from the best designers in the music industry.

www.BandJob.com

Yesterday was the first day of rehearsals for KISS' upcoming European MONSTER Tour. The band will continue to rehearse through mid-next week, before heading to Stockholm, Sweden for the Tour opener on June 1st.

EUROPEAN TOUR DATES:

June 1 - Stockholm, Sweden
June 3 - Helsinki, Finland
June 6 - Solvesborg, Sweden
June 8 - Stavanger, Norway
June 11 - Copenhagen, Denmark
June 12 - Berlin, Germany
June 14 - Prague, Czech Republic
June 15 - Vienna, Austria
June 17 - Udine, Italy
June 18 - Milan, Italy
June 20 - Zurich, Switzerland
June 22 - Clisson, France

CLICK HERE to visit the KISS Tour page for venue information with links to tickets and Meet & Greet packages.

Photo by Paul Bassett for KISSONLINE.

May 20, 1980, KISS released Unmasked, their eighth studio album. The artwork featured Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, although Criss actually had no involvement with the recording of the album. Anton Fig (uncredited) played all drums on the album.

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on July 30, 1980.

UNMASKED Track Listing:

Is That You? / Shandi / Talk To Me / Naked City / What Makes The World Go Round / Tomorrow / Two Sides Of The Coin / She's So European/ Easy As It Seems /Torpedo Girl / You're All That I Want

Here's the music video for "Shandi."

KISS ROCKED AMERICAN IDOL FINALE

On this day in KISSTORY - May 20, 2009, KISS rocked over 25 million Americans with Detroit Rock City and Rock and Roll All Night as the band was front-and-center on the American Idol finale show performing with runner-up Adam Lambert.

- KISS was just about the best thing on Idol ALL SEASON LONG. - Rolling Stone

- a jaw-dropping, fist-pumping, pyro-enhanced performance with legendary rockers KISS. - MTV

- KISS Blow Up American Idol. Now that's the way to rock the house! - Associated Content

- It was a night to remember for all those members (including me) of the KISS Army. - WBAL Radio

- Carlos Santana had the unenviable task of following the act. He strummed out some of his famous licks, which felt very slow-paced after the unbelievable energy KISS brought to the theatre. I was actually screaming to see more KISS by this point. - TV Envy