kiss first tour without makeup

When KISS Wiped Away Their Iconic Face Paint in 1983, Fans 'Hated' the New Look

The rock band risked it all by washing their faces clean in a live reveal — only to go back to wearing makeup a decade later.

However, the group eventually found their own take on the trend. They ended up using makeup too —but in a different way. Covering their faces with black-and-white paint, the band masked their own facades and taking on stage identities: vocalist and bassist Simmons was the Demon, guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley became Star Child, guitarist Ace Frehley turned into Spaceman and drummer Peter Criss took on Catman.

And it worked. Even with multiple changes in their lineup, KISS has released 44 albums in the last four decades, selling more than 100 million albums worldwide and earning a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

While the makeup has become synonymous with KISS, one of the band’s biggest moments came when they revealed their natural faces in an MTV interview in 1983. But that momentous decision didn’t come easy.

The band struggled at first to find their look

During their early days in New York, the band experimented with their style. “The very first pictures we took when the band first got together, we looked like drag queens,” Simmons told the fanzine. “But we knew we wanted to get outlandish.”

To figure out what that meant for them, they had to really dig into their own personalities. “Getting up onstage was almost a holy place for us, like church, so being onstage looking like a bum wasn't my idea of respect,” he continued. “That's where the makeup and dressing up came in. It would have obviously been a lot easier to get up onstage in jeans and t-shirts and go, ‘Okay, here we are — we're the Ramones!’ And that would have been just as valid, but it would not have been honest.”

And that’s how the makeup looks came about — completely organically. "I just remember being in a loft in downtown New York and looking in the mirror and just starting to draw,” Simmons remembered. “It was very stream-of-consciousness. What you see is really what just happened. ... Nobody else was involved.”

They played their first official show on January 30, 1973, at the Queens nightclub Popcorn — and by the following year, they were signed to Casablanca Records and on a North American tour, gaining a reputation for their on-stage theatrics. They released their self-titled debut on February 18, 1974.

Simmons said it felt 'good' to reveal their paint-free faces

By the 1980s, things changed. In 1980, Criss left and was replaced by Eric Carr who took on a new character called The Fox, and two years later, Frehley went solo and Vinnie Vincent stepped in as an Egyptian ankh. While they still wore makeup throughout the release of the Unmasked album and their Brazil show in June 1983, things were about to change.

On September 18, 1983, the quartet appeared on MTV and shocked the world by revealing their makeup-free faces, along with a video for the first track off the new album, “Lick It Up.”

“It feels good,” Simmons said moments after the unveiling. “We've always been close to our fans. In fact, in a lot of the shows, we'd walk out into the crowd to get a feel of what everybody was feeling like and most often they really wouldn't know it was us, so we've always felt closer. I think it's time for them to notice a little bit more. It feels very, very comfortable. I hope it seems that way — I feel fine about it!”

“To me, it doesn't feel all that different because I've seen these guys more often without makeup than I have with makeup,” Stanley admitted.

Up until that point, they had never performed without makeup except “back in the hotel.”

“We thought about it for a while — we could give you all kinds of great answers, like that we went and saw a Swami, and we did do that too — but it just felt like the right time to do it,” Simmons said ahead of the release of their 18th record. “The band feels so strong, and it just felt like, do it.”

The public's reaction to the reveal was not all positive

The stunt paid off. Their success spiked and the album Lick It Up went platinum. Yet, the reaction to the new clean-cut look wasn’t all positive.

“Everybody hated it,” Simmons recalled, according to Yahoo . “People didn't want the paint to come off, but you know what? Tough. It had to happen.”

To keep their longevity, they felt the new image had to emerge. “You want your heroes to stay the same forever, but then the consequence of that is you get bored with them,” he continued. “We had to take it off. It had run its course.”

For more than a decade, they remained fresh-faced — and reminded fans they were the same band no matter how they appeared. “Nothing really changes because we only know one way to perform,” Stanley said during the MTV interview. “The makeup never had anything to do with the [special effects smoke] bombs so or doing splits. Whatever we were doing on stage comes from us. Taking the makeup off doesn't change how we feel and we’re the same people.”

There is still controversy over the band's look today

In the mid-1990s, the slow road back to their original look began. First, in August 1995, Criss and Frehley returned for a mini-reunion of the founding members for an MTV performance, and on February 28, 1996, the original four made a surprise appearance at the Grammys — in full costume and makeup for the first time in 17 years.

They also went on an Alive Worldwide Reunion tour for 13 months with 200 shows in 26 countries, making it the year’s top-grossing tour.

As the new millennium began, KISS started their long goodbye, with the Farewell tour starting in 2000. But in 2001, Criss left and was replaced by Eric Singer — who also took over his Catman look. The following year, Frehley left again and was replaced by Tommy Thayer, taking on the Spaceman look.

That led to a new outrage for different people to take on those iconic personalities — to which Simmons simply told Rolling Stone : “Why wouldn’t we use the classic make up? We own it.”

“There’s always going to be five percent or 10 percent of people who were there at the beginning who will complain about anything,” he continued. “And listen, I think that’s valid from their point of view. But people get onto a train at different times.”

As he said during the initial MTV reveal, even though the band is known for their makeup — it was never the focus: “We always contended from the beginning that the makeup was just a sort of a stage manifestation of who we are... KISS is still KISS. The same energy and drive and commitment to doing everything short of killing ourselves to give people the best show in the world.”

"Biography: KISStory" chronicles the band’s five decades in the business as founders Stanley and Simmons reflect on their historic career. The four-hour, two-night event airs Sunday, June 27 and Monday, June 28 from 9-11 pm ET/PT .

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Kiss Unmasked for the First Time Ever On This Day in 1983

• General News
• Setlist History
• Last updated: 11 Oct 2018, 19:12:22
• Published: 11 Oct 2018, 19:12:15
• Written by: Hannah Cotter
• Photography by: Frederick M. Brown
• Categories: General News Setlist History Tagged: KISS Gene Simmons Lick It Up KISS at Pavilhão do Grupo Dramático e Sportivo de Cascais

On October 11, 1983, rock history was made.

The iconic hard rock band, KISS, played their first show without make up at Cascais Hall in Lisbon, Portugal as a part of their Lick It Up Tour, and debuted four songs live: "Fits Like a Glove," "Exciter," "Gimme More" and "Lick It Up."

Check out the setlist from the show:

The rockers played a mix of cuts from Creatures of the Night, Lick It Up, Destroyer and their self-titled album. Fans heard KISS staples like "Detroit Rock City," "Fire House," "Black Diamond" and "Rock and Roll All Nite."

Here's a clip of the band playing the opening song, "Creatures of the Night."

Gene Simmons also spit up blood without his stage makeup on– for the first and last time– during his bass solo before "God of Thunder."

For reference, this is what it usually looked like:

The band officially appeared in public without makeup for the first time on MTV on September 18, 1983, but this show was the first unmasked live performance.

Take a peek at the MTV interview:

"It feels very, very comfortable," Simmons says in the interview. "I mean, I hope it seems that way." He explains that often before shows, the band would wander around the audience without makeup to get a feel for the crowd, all the whileremaining completely unrecognizable.

Following the Lick It Up Tour, KISS went on to release a collection of gold and platinum albums before regrouping with original members Peter Criss and Paul "Ace" Frehley for a massive 1996 jaunt: the Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour.

On the Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour, the setlists practically mirrored those from the band's 1970s heyday and purposely left out songs from their non-make-up era. They played the songs mentioned above, as well as "Beth," "Rock Bottom," "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," "Cold Gin" and "Love Gun."

Here's a clip (with a thunderous applause) of KISS, re-masked, playing "Detroit Rock City" at a stop in Chicago during the tour.

KISS recently confirmed that a farewell tour is in the works. The End of the Road Tour is expected to begin in 2019. "It will be the most explosive, biggest show we've ever done," the band said. "People who love us, come to see us. If you've never seen us, this is the time. This will be the show!"

No dates have been released yet, but keep an eye on KISS' website for upcoming tour info.

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Most played songs.

• Rock and Roll All Nite ( 2221 )
• Detroit Rock City ( 2145 )
• Love Gun ( 2040 )
• Black Diamond ( 1944 )
• Bass Solo ( 1858 )

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21,232 people have seen KISS live.

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30 Years Ago: Kiss Play Their First Show Without Makeup

Matthew Wilkening | Ultimate Classic Rock

On Oct. 11, 1983,  Kiss  performed the first-ever show without their trademark facepaint. The change helped revitalize the band’s sagging commercial fortunes, but also marked the beginning of an extended “troubling time” for founding member  Gene Simmons .

This inaugural live unmasked appearance — in the unlikely and remote setting of Lisbon, Portugal — came just three weeks after Kiss, long famous for hiding their identities in public and onstage behind elaborate costumes and makeup, first  revealed their real faces on national television  during a special MTV appearance.

Of course, by this point, only two of the group’s original members were around for the unveiling, with founding drummer  Peter Criss  having departed in 1980 and guitarist  Ace Frehley  following him out the door in 1982. The former “hottest band in the land” had also fallen far from the height of their massive ’70s commercial fortunes. This was partially because of the lineup changes and most certainly also because they spent the early ’80s dabbling in disco-influenced rock  or making a much-derided  concept album .

Even when they did get their act together — and how! — with 1982′s thunderous return to form ‘ Creatures of the Night ,’ the public barely took notice. Despite new guitarist Vinnie Vincent’s insistence that it was “time to grow and change” by unmasking, the move was most likely borne at least partially to try and garner a higher level of attention for their highly deserving new album, ‘ Lick It Up .’

The change (and the  often-underrated music  they made during this time) helped Kiss regain some, but certainly not all, of the popularity they had lost during their last few years. However, it also signified yet another shift in the already fractured band’s power dynamic, with Simmons finding himself uncomfortable in his new non-Demon persona.

As he details in his book ‘Kiss and Make-Up,’ Simmons “didn’t know how I was supposed to act, because the non-makeup version of the band was an entirely new idea. Paul (Stanley) was in his prime. He was very comfortable being who he was, because in some ways Paul is the same offstage as onstage.”

This dilemma can be seen in footage of the band’s first non-makeup show. Stanley doesn’t seem to have lost a step in terms of fulfilling his sex symbol/frontman duties, while Simmons’ outfit and monster-stomping routine seems a little bit more awkward without the greasepaint.

“For those couple of years it became his (Stanley’s) band,” Simmons continues. “Paul was always the guy who spoke in the interviews. When you saw photos of Kiss, they tended more and more to be photos of Paul.” As Simmons jokes himself, things would get worse, not better, in later years, clothing-wise: “My reaction was to try to muscle my way back into the spotlight by buying some truly outlandish androgynous clothing… it just made me look like a football player in a tutu.”

Perhaps this shift led to Simmons seeking fulfillment in other avenues, as he spent much of the mid-’80s pursuing film roles, managing other bands and operating his own record label. Stanley was often forced to fill the vacuum left by his partner’s divided focus, dominating the songwriting and production duties on albums such as ‘Animalize,’ ‘Asylum’ and ‘Crazy Nights.’ It was nearly a decade before the first Simmons-fronted single of the non-makeup era (1992′s ‘Unholy’) was released.

Still, somehow Stanley and Simmons managed to keep the good ship Kiss afloat. The band would continue to perform au naturel  for the next 13 years. They released seven albums during this time, several of which went platinum and spawned hit singles such as ‘Heaven’s on Fire’ and ‘Forever.’

Guitarist Vincent, who had taken over for Frehley only a year earlier, would soon depart the band, being replaced even more briefly by Mark St. John and more permanently by Bruce Kulick. The band’s universally beloved second drummer, Eric Carr, would remain in the lineup until his death in 1991.

In 1996, the group once again donned the makeup — and welcomed back Frehley and Criss  — for a hugely successful world tour. The pair would depart again a few years later. Simmons and Stanley made the controversial decision to hire new members (guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who also played on the last two “unmasked” Kiss albums) to wear the iconic cat and spaceman facepaint. The group released their 20th studio album, ‘ Monster ‘ on Oct. 9, 2012.

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KISS appears for the first time without make-up in 1983

On september 18, 1983 during an interview on mtv promoting the release of their newest album, “lick it up.

KISS appeared without their ‘make-up’ for the first time during an interview on MTV promoting the release of their newest album, “Lick It Up”. In 1983 only Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons remained from the original line up, the two other founding members, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley had departed in 1980 and 1982, KISS had been wearing their signature make-up and costumes since 1973, just shortly before they rose to fame, as the 1980’s start to advance and with the constant changing inside the band, they decide to shift their marketing direction by removing their make-up for the first time. The tour to promote the new album “Lick It Up” and the unmasked band members began in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 11, 1983, their first concert without make-up since early 1973.  However, their popularity didn’t stayed quite the same after it. KISS spent the rest of the 1980’s changing the line up of the band and scoring minor hits, during the 1990’s, the band put back their signature make-up and  classic stage costumes, which gave them a new resurgence. Currently, KISS still wears their make up on stage and never got back to their 1980’s period, however the band claims the current tour will be their last, and that they’ll hang their iconic customs after that.

Watch moment where KISS gets unmasked on MTV in 1983

Watch KISS performing for the very first time without their make up, live in Lisbon, Portugal 1983, the song “Detroit Rock City”

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Remember When: KISS Removed Their Makeup in 1983

by Tina Benitez-Eves October 11, 2023, 10:00 am

On September 18, 1983, the unfathomable happened. After a decade of Paul Stanley playing Starchild, Gene Simmon s as the Demon, Peter Criss the Catman, and Ace Frehley’s Spaceman under sheets of makeup, KISS finally revealed their faces.

Videos by American Songwriter

By the early ’80s, the band had experienced a slump in their career, despite success with their 1982 album Creatures of the Night and hit “I Love It Loud,” and were looking for some kind of renaissance. On that fateful day, they revealed themselves during a press conference on MTV.

“To me, it doesn’t feel all that different,” said Stanley, “because I’ve seen these guys more often without makeup than I have with makeup.”

Simmons added, “It feels very very comfortable. I hope it seems that way. I feel fine about it.”

[RELATED: American Songwriter January/February Cover Story: KISS Forever and Ever]

‘Creature’ Comforts

Prior to their unveiling, by the late 1970s, each band member released an individual solo album in 1978, which was followed by three lackluster KISS releases— Dynasty in 1979, followed by Unmasked in 1980, and the more experimental Music from “The Elder ” in 1981.

Original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss had also left the band before by the early 1980s and before the makeup came off. Frehley was already replaced by guitarist Vinnie Vincent on Creatures of the Night and drummer Eric Carr had already replaced Criss on Music from “The Elder.” Carr remained with KISS for nearly a decade through the band’s 1989 album Hot in the Shade before his death from heart cancer in 1991 at age 41.

‘Lick It Up’

When the band released Lick It Up in 1983, it was time to come clean , so to speak, and reveal their faces. “‘Let’s prove something to the fans. Let’s go and be a real band without makeup,'” said Stanley, according to Simmons in his 2001 book  Kiss and Make-Up .

“I reluctantly agreed,” added Simmons. “I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I heard what Paul was saying. There was nowhere else for us to go. We did a photo session just to see what it would look like. We looked straight into the camera lens. We were defiant. I made one small concession to the fans: I stuck out my tongue, to try to keep something that connected us with the past.”

Stanley recently told American Songwriter why Simmons was more reluctant to wiping off the makeup at first.

“It was more difficult for Gene to take off the makeup because he was lost without it,” said Stanley . “He had created such a strong persona that it took another album and the lack of embracing of ‘Creatures’ by the public to make him realize that people were listening with their eyes and were tired of what they were seeing, and we needed to do something drastic.”

[RELATED: 4 Songs You Didn’t Know Paul Stanley Wrote for Other Artists]

In the end, Stanley’s inclination was right. Lick It Up sold three times more than Creatures of the Night and went gold in 1983 and eventually platinum by the end of the decade. Lick It Up peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200, and the band’s subsequent unmasked albums remained in the top 40 on the charts, including their 1992 album Revenge , which went to No. 6.

Making Up, Again

Throughout the remainder of the 1980s and most of the ’90s, the band had several lineup shifts during their bare-faced era. Guitarist Bruce Kulick also joined the band from their 1985 album Asylum through Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions in 1997, while Carr was replaced by Eric Singer, who has remained with the band since Revenge .

In 1998, the band returned to their painted faces on their 18th album Psycho Circu s, a one-off album featuring all four original members. The album peaked at No. 3 on the 200 chart and KISS’ other personas have remained painted on since, through KISS’ 2009 album Sonic Boom and the band’s 20th and final album Monster in 2012—both featuring current guitarist Tommy Thayer—and through the closing of their farewell tour in 2023.

Photo by Robert Knight Archive/Redferns

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© 2024 American Songwriter

KISS Finally Showed Their Bare Faces 40 Years Ago

KISS is known for their rock and roll music and their wacky personas, complete with tons of makeup specific to each bandmate. The original members included Paul Stanley as the Starchild, Gene Simmons as the Demon, Ace Frehley as the Spaceman (or Space Ace), and Peter Criss as the Catman. The band rose to fame in the ’70s with their incredible live performances and it was unlike anything the world had ever seen. It wasn’t just a concert or performance, it was a full-on show complete with fire-breathing, pyrotechnics, and other bizarre details.

After almost a decade of performing in full makeup, fans had never really seen the bandmates’ bare faces. So, on Sept. 18, 1983, the band, now featuring Simmons, Stanley, Vinnie Vincent, and Eric Carr decided to go makeup-free for an MTV press conference. They had hoped the stunt would revitalize their career and it worked. The press conference got a ton of coverage and their latest album at the time, Lick It Up , did quite well and almost immediately became a platinum album.

Stanely shared about the event, “I very much wanted to do it; as a matter of fact, I was hoping we would’ve done it with [1982’s] ‘Creatures of the Night’ album. But understandably, it was a much, much bigger step for Gene, because Gene’s persona is so strong, and was so strong, that to give that up was a big, big, big, big commitment and sacrifice. So, he was a little reluctant, and we waited. But when ‘Creatures,’ although it was arguably one of the top albums we did, didn’t sell through the way we hoped it would, I think Gene saw the writing on the wall. [The press MTV conference] got a lot of coverage, and lo and behold, ‘Lick It Up’ came out and was almost immediately a platinum album. So, I think I was right.”

Peter Cade/Central Press/Getty Images

(Left to Right) Guitarist Ace Frehley, lead singer Gene Simmons, guitarist Paul Stanley, and drummer Peter Criss

Even though the band was sharing a whole new side of themselves, Simmons assured fans that they have always been the band they know and love and will continue to be. He said on air, “We’ve always contended from the beginning that the makeup was just sort of a stage manifestation of who we are … the makeup was just an extension of our personalities. [We still have] the same sort of energy and drive and commitment to doing everything, short of killing ourselves, to give people the best show in the world.”

Getty Images/Getty Images

(L to R) Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent, Eric Carr (1950 – 1991) and Gene Simmons

Years later, Simmons recalls the night and said that he remembers fans hating the makeup removal. He admitted that they were excited to finally see what was underneath all of the flashy makeup and tricks but ultimately, some were disappointed. He added, “They didn’t want the paint to come off. But you know what? Tough. It had to happen. You want your heroes to stay the same forever, but then the consequence of that is you get bored with them.”

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Note that the current lineup (pictured above) features Simmons, Stanley, Tommy Thayer (guitar), and Eric Singer (drums). They are supposedly currently on their final tour, The End of the Road World Tour, which is set to conclude in December 2023.

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Pop Culture Rewind: KISS Performs Without Makeup For The First Time; Video

October 11, 2023, 7 months ago

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On October 11, 1983 at Pavilhão Dramático de Cascais in Lisbon, Portugal, KISS performed their first concert without makeup since early 1973. In the new video below, Billboard News looks back at the performance.

KISS have cancelled their scheduled concert this Friday, October 13, at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai, UAE.

A message posted at the venue website follows:

"All Things Live Middle East, the presenter behind the upcoming KISS – End Of The Road concert taking place on 13th October at Coca-Cola Arena has the following statement: ‘KISS has today confirmed that they have cancelled their show due to unforeseen circumstances and will be releasing more information imminently.’

"We share the KISS Army and regional rock fans’ disappointment and wish the band members all the best.

"All tickets will be automatically refunded to the same card used for the transaction. Kindly note your refund can take up to 21 working days, (from the date of cancellation - 11th October 2023) so please wait before contacting your point of purchase."

Therefore, KISS' next End Of The Road concert will take place on October 19 at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The band's complete tour itinerary can be found here .

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What Do KISS Look Like Without Makeup?

KISS have been around for 40 friggin' years. Formed in 1973, KISS became one of the biggest rock bands in the world with classic albums such as 'Destroyer' and 'Love Gun' before choosing to nix the makeup in 1983.

The group made their first public appearance without makeup on Sept. 18, 1983. The MTV special revealing the faces of KISS turned out to be somewhat anticlimactic after a massive buildup, because it turns out that human faces really aren't as interesting as anonymity. KISS eventually brought the makeup back, much to the joy of fans, and the band still tours and puts out albums to this day.

KISS Without Makeup:

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Pop Culture Rewind: KISS Performs Without Makeup For The First Time | Billboard News

We take a look back at KISS' first performance without their makeup on.

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See KISS Sound Check With No Makeup Or Costumes, And Gene Simmons In His Robe, If That’s Your Thing

SiriusXM's Town Hall With KISS NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 29: (L-R) Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Gene Simmons of the band KISS attend SiriusXM's Town Hall with KISS on October 29, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SiriusXM) (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Back on May 14th the KISS tour rolled into Hartford, CT. As always they had a VIP pre-show sound check party for guests with enough cash to pay for the privilege. And one fan even filmed the whole 38 minutes, including the whole band in their every day wear, sans makeup or costumes, and even includes Gene mostly wearing just a robe.

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30 Years Ago: Kiss Play Their First Show Without Makeup

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On Oct. 11, 1983, Kiss performed the first-ever show without their trademark facepaint. The change helped revitalize the band's sagging commercial fortunes, but also marked the beginning of an extended "troubling time" for founding member Gene Simmons .

This inaugural live unmasked appearance -- in the unlikely and remote setting of Lisbon, Portugal -- came just three weeks after Kiss, long famous for hiding their identities in public and onstage behind elaborate costumes and makeup, first revealed their real faces on national television during a special MTV appearance.

Of course, by this point, only two of the group's original members were around for the unveiling, with founding drummer Peter Criss having departed in 1980 and guitarist Ace Frehley following him out the door in 1982. The former "hottest band in the land" had also fallen far from the height of their massive '70s commercial fortunes. This was partially because of the lineup changes and most certainly also because they spent the early '80s dabbling in disco-influenced rock or making a much-derided concept album .

Even when they did get their act together -- and how! -- with 1982's thunderous return to form ' Creatures of the Night ,' the public barely took notice. Despite new guitarist Vinnie Vincent's insistence that it was "time to grow and change" by unmasking, the move was most likely borne at least partially to try and garner a higher level of attention for their highly deserving new album, ' Lick It Up .'

The change (and the often-underrated music they made during this time) helped Kiss regain some, but certainly not all, of the popularity they had lost during their last few years. However, it also signified yet another shift in the already fractured band's power dynamic, with Simmons finding himself uncomfortable in his new non-Demon persona.

As he details in his book 'Kiss and Make-Up,' Simmons "didn't know how I was supposed to act, because the non-makeup version of the band was an entirely new idea. Paul (Stanley) was in his prime. He was very comfortable being who he was, because in some ways Paul is the same offstage as onstage."

This dilemma can be seen in footage of the band's first non-makeup show. Stanley doesn't seem to have lost a step in terms of fulfilling his sex symbol/frontman duties, while Simmons' outfit and monster-stomping routine seems a little bit more awkward without the greasepaint.

"For those couple of years it became his (Stanley's) band," Simmons continues. "Paul was always the guy who spoke in the interviews. When you saw photos of Kiss, they tended more and more to be photos of Paul." As Simmons jokes himself, things would get worse, not better, in later years, clothing-wise: "My reaction was to try to muscle my way back into the spotlight by buying some truly outlandish androgynous clothing... it just made me look like a football player in a tutu."

Perhaps this shift led to Simmons seeking fulfillment in other avenues, as he spent much of the mid-'80s pursuing film roles, managing other bands and operating his own record label. Stanley was often forced to fill the vacuum left by his partner's divided focus, dominating the songwriting and production duties on albums such as 'Animalize,' 'Asylum' and 'Crazy Nights.' It was nearly a decade before the first Simmons-fronted single of the non-makeup era (1992's 'Unholy') was released.

Still, somehow Stanley and Simmons managed to keep the good ship Kiss afloat. The band would continue to perform au natura l for the next 13 years. They released seven albums during this time, several of which went platinum and spawned hit singles such as 'Heaven's on Fire' and 'Forever.'

Guitarist Vincent, who had taken over for Frehley only a year earlier, would soon depart the band, being replaced even more briefly by Mark St. John and more permanently by Bruce Kulick. The band's universally beloved second drummer, Eric Carr, would remain in the lineup until his death in 1991.

In 1996, the group once again donned the makeup -- and welcomed back Frehley and Criss  -- for a hugely successful world tour. The pair would depart again a few years later. Simmons and Stanley made the controversial decision to hire new members (guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who also played on the last two "unmasked" Kiss albums) to wear the iconic cat and spaceman facepaint. The group released their 20th studio album, ' Monster ' on Oct. 9, 2012.

Watch Kiss Open Their First Show Without Makeup

Watch Kiss Talk About Taking Off Their Makeup

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Kiss’ Gene Simmons Is Promising ‘No More Make-Up’

Fans shouldn't expect an appearance by the Demon when Gene Simmons returns to the stage.

Kiss played their last announced concert in December, bringing to a close a four-year trek dubbed the End of the Road. They performed in the band's original greasepaint, though members had come and gone around co-founders Simmons and Paul Stanley over the years.

There were hints, however, that we hadn't seen the last of Kiss.

"The end of the road is the beginning of another road," Stanley during their last performance. "We're not going anywhere. You'll see us in all different things all the time. We'll see you in your dreams." Simmons added in a band-released video : "If you think you are going to get rid of us then that's not going to happen."

READ MORE: The Very Best Kiss ‘Without Makeup’ Songs

Now, Simmons is taking a "little side band" out on the road, highlighted by a previously announced set at the Summer Breeze festival on April 26 in Brazil, alongside Sebastian Bach and Mr. Big .

The Gene Simmons Band will soon announce "headlining festivals across Europe, South America," he added in an interview with Entertainment Tonight . Then he revealed: "No more make-up for me. But we're the luckiest people in the world."

'Millions' Also Going Into Kiss' Avatar Project

He earlier performed unmasked from 1983-96 in Kiss. Simmons' first-ever concert followed in 2017. His new lineup will include guitarists Brent Woods (Sebastian Bach, Vince Neil ) and Zach Throne (Corey Taylor), and drummer Brian Tichy ( Whitesnake , Billy Idol , Foreigner ).

Kiss also announced a hologram version of the band, created by the group behind the ABBA Voyage digital concert. "You can't tell if they're there – right there, like that," Simmons marveled during a fan Q&A at the Electric Lady Studios.

Kiss' exact plans for their avatars remain unconfirmed . But Simmons has said millions of dollars have been directed toward launching this "new era" for Kiss. "There's so much being planned, even beyond my comprehension," he added.

Gene Simmons, Movie Star

Gallery Credit: Jeff Giles

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