Theatrics and basic hard rock have been a main calling card for Kiss, who are one of the biggest-selling acts of the Seventies and who inspired the Kiss Army, as fans refer to themselves. The quartet formed in the heyday of glitter and rock theater. Kiss hit it off with its fans from the very start. After some hard financial times, the band took off with Alive!, which contained the Top Twenty hit “Rock and Roll All Nite” and never looked back. The group racked up more and more platinum records – six between 1976 and 1979 – and young fans were frequently photographed wearing the makeup of their favorite Kiss member. Lick It Up (1983) depicted the group without its makeup and sparked a commercial resurgence. By the early Nineties, Kiss had sold more than 70 million albums. In 2000 and 2001, the band’s original lineup toured, theoretically for the last time. In 2003, a new lineup — with Tommy Thayer as “Space Ace” lead guitarist and Eric Singer as “Catman” drummer augmenting Stanley and Simmons — went on the road, earning the seventh highest total gross for music tours that year. Kiss toured again in 2004 and 2008 – and they continue to tour and sell out arenas.
