Kiss Monster book released today

The members of the iconic band Kiss revealed their book, Kiss Monster, at The Arts Club, London, on the 3rd of July.  Kiss was due to come out at noon but they kept the large crowd of television crews and journalists waiting for 40 minutes.  When the four members of Kiss finally came out, they were welcomed by a warm applause.  

The book is a collection of 127 photographs from the prolific rock band’s history.  It includes rare and unseen photographs from over their 40-year career.  The band worked closely with publishers choosing images for every decade of their history.  

The four current members of Kiss: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer, all took questions regarding their new book.  Kiss said that they are donating the book at the signing to the organisation Help for Heroes.  Help for Heroes helps service men and women returning from war.  Simmons said the book is for the veterans who sacrificed, because without them there would be no book.  Kiss is trying to raise awareness and money for the cause.  The band is sincere about helping veterans and have already donated half a million pounds to a similar organisation.  

The legendary Gene Simmons provided entertainment throughout the press conference.  Simmons co-founded Kiss in the early 1970s.  The bass guitar player and vocalist is often regarded as the leader of the band.  He has been with the band from the start.  Simmons and Kiss have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.  Simmons was an integral component of the rock movement in America.  The living rock legend Simmons and Kiss continue to play and have a new album coming out entitled Monster.

Kiss, having the iconic and long history it does, needed to create a massive book.  The Kiss Monster book is the largest rock band book ever published.  The book is three feet high and two-and-a-half feet wide.  In regards of the size of the book, Simmons said: “Size does count, your girlfriend’s been lying.”  Simmons’ crude humour kept the crowd laughing.

The press conference concluded and Kiss signed the book.  Signed by all four members, the Kiss Monster book has been officially launched.  At the moment, only 1,000 copies have been made and each one is hand-signed by Kiss.  The book comes in the original cover and includes ten different countries on the cover. The countries included are the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, and Russia.  The books are very expensive and have a price tag of $4,299.  Simmons acknowledged the hefty price and said: “It’s the Rolls-Royce of books.”  

Clifton Graves
Photos: Helen Parrish

For more information on the book, click here.