2024-04-06 15:24:42
The members of the rock band Kiss have retired several times, but this time it seems to be permanent. After playing their last concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden at the end of last year and symbolically handing over the reins to their digital likenesses at the end of it, the musicians have now sold the Kiss brand and their catalog.
All Kiss songs and records, the name, visual symbols associated with the band and generally the entire brand were bought by the Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, whose founders include Björn Ulvaeus from the group Abba.
The AFP agency reported on the acquisition. The price is not known, another AP agency estimates it at more than 300 million dollars, which would be roughly seven billion crowns. The Swedes want to “further develop” the Kiss brand. Among other things, he will make a film about the band.
Kiss was founded in 1973 by musicians Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. They became famous for simple, punchy music on the border between glam rock and hard rock, painted faces, wild costumes, tongues sticking out and other extravagances. Their biggest hits include Rock And Roll All Nite or I Was Made For Lovin’ You, both from the second half of the 70s.
The Swedes have now bought the rights to the Kiss brand with the aim of “further developing and spreading the Kiss legacy around the world”, as they said. “It is one of the most famous, most iconic bands in the world. It rewrote the rules of rock shows and constantly conquered new goals,” says Johan Lagerlof, head of Pophouse investments.
This company is now planning to make a documentary and a feature film about Kiss. In addition, there are plans for an unspecified “experience” event, which could be something along the lines of a theme park, and a show in which Kiss’ music is played by their digital avatars projected on a screen instead of the musicians. Last December, the rockers symbolically handed over the scepter to them at the last concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they ended their career.
Digital avatars of Kiss members. | Photo: Pophouse Entertainment
During the encore, founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, accompanied by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, disappeared from the stage in a haze of fire and smoke, before presenting their rejuvenated, supernatural virtual avatars on the screen.
They then performed the song God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II without real musicians, only on the screen in slightly diabolical settings, which they covered by Kiss in the early 90s of the last century. At the same time, streams of a kind of energy flowed from their instruments, their strings or eyes glowed devilishly, and avatars levitated or spat fire, as if it were a computer game. “Army of Kiss listeners, your love and strength have made us immortal. Right now, a new era of Kiss begins,” the characters announced.
The digital likenesses of the musicians were created by the trick studio Industrial Light & Magic, founded by George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, in cooperation with Pophouse Entertainment, which will now own Kiss.
The companies have already teamed up to create the Abba Voyage show, which allows people in London to experience a full concert of the Swedish band’s digital avatars seven times a week. According to Bloomberg, the project will earn about two million dollars a week.
The Swedish company wants to present a similar show, but with avatars of Kiss members, in the second half of 2027. “But it will be completely different from Abba Voyage,” promises Per Sundin, director of the Pophouse company.
Seventy-four-year-old Gene Simmons assured the AP agency that although he no longer formally owns the Kiss brand, he will continue to participate in it with the musicians. “It’s not like we’re going to roll our hams in Beverly Hills from now on and Pophouse will do everything for us. We’re in it with them, we’re constantly discussing it, exchanging ideas and working together,” he claims. “It’s just that under the Kiss brand, we’re not going to go on another tour and re-apply makeup,” emphasizes Simmons.
Kiss organized their first farewell tour already in the years 2000 to 2002, but in the end they always returned due to the great interest of the listeners. They apparently said their final goodbyes to the Czech fans the year before last and again last year in Prague’s O2 arena, where roughly 15,000 people came.
Video: Kiss perform Detroit Rock City
The song Detroit Rock City, as Kiss played it in Prague’s O2 arena the summer before last. Photo: Radek Úlehla | Video: Paul Kowacz