Kiss is an American hard rock and heavy metal band, founded in 1973 in New York City, USA by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, internationally popular and easily recognized by its vivid live performances, striking face paint and stage costumes.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame have accumulated so far? What’s the size of their net worth? According to sources, it is estimated that the total amount of Kiss’ net worth, as of early 2016, is $300 million which has been acquired during the band’s longevity and including rich discography.
Kiss Net Worth $300 Million
Kiss was founded in 1973 by the former members of Wicked Lester, Gene Simmons, on lead vocals and bass, and Paul Stanley as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist (or Gene Klein and Stanley Eisen, as their real names are, respectively.) The famous quartet was formed when drummer Peter Criss – “Catman” – and Ace Frehley – “Spaceman” – joined the band. Kiss’ eponymous debut album was released just a year later, and with over 500,000 sold copies was certified gold in 1977. It is considered that Kiss pretty-much invented “heavy metal” as a music genre. This accomplishment provided the basis for band’s later humongous net worth.
Their successful start was followed by numerous live gigs, and another album in 1974, Hotter Than Hell. The band’s popularity started rising rapidly due to their elaborate live performances, including “blood and breathing fire” pyrotechnics and smoke bombs. By the year 1977, Kiss had already reached its commercial peak with four platinum albums in its portfolio, and total income of over $10.2 million. The curiosity is that in 1978, all four band members released their solo albums on the same day, and all of them were published as Kiss albums with similar covers and poster art inserts. These accomplishments certainly increased Kiss’ fame as well as the band’s net worth.
Throughout the years, there have been several lineup changes, but two members invariable stayed, to this day – Paul Stanley – The Starchild and Gene Simmons – The Demon. Apart from the original cast mentioned above, the crew has included Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Bruce Kulick, Mark St. John and the current line up members Tommy Thayer – Space Ace (lead guitar and vocal) and Eric Singer – The Catman (drums and vocal). The band name Kiss is written in the history of Rock ‘N’ Roll, with notable albums such as Destroyer (1976), Love Gun (1977), Dynasty (1979), Lick It Up (1983), Revenge (1992), Psycho Circus (1998) and Sonic Boom (2009).
In Kiss’ existence, now spanning over 43 years, the band has released 40 albums of which 28 have achieved platinum status, with over 100 million records sold worldwide, over 40 million in the States alone. Kiss’ opus includes several video albums and three movie features, as well as several appearances in FOX’s animated comedy series – Family Guy. Besides all of these achievements, Kiss’ net worth is still increasing due to various merchandise, including clothing, art prints, action figures and even pinball machines.
For their contribution and innovative approach to music, Kiss has been honored countless times; some of the prizes they have won so far are People’s Choice Awards for Favorite New Song in 1977, Metal Edge Readers’ Choice Awards for Bend of the Year, Best Concert Tour and Performance in 1996 as well as Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 2014. During its illustrious career so far, Kiss has performed at, among other gigs, the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and American Idol finales.
In philanthropy, Kiss is also attached to various veterans organizations such as The Wounded Warriors Project, The Legacy Organization in Australia, The USO, Help For Heroes United Kingdom and the US Chamber of Commerce Hire a Hero program.
