Ultimate Guitar

How much would you pay for a piece of memorabilia once used by one of your musical idols? What if that piece of memorabilia was a used stick of gum? Turns out that some people would be willing to pay quite a bit. A stick of gum once chewed by Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has recently been sold on eBay for a whopping $247,710.28

The gum was chewed by Simmons when he appeared on the UK Sports programme Soccer AM and was sold by the channel to raise money for Street League, a charity which is dedicated to tackling youth unemployment in the UK. The winner of the auction also received the gum’s original packaging and a copy of Simmons’ script for the show.

You can watch a video of Simmons chewing the gum here. While the winner of the auction certainly shelled out for their prize, at least they weren’t fleeced on shipping costs. Postage and packaging for the gum was free.

What is the strangest piece of rock memorabilia that you have ever seen? Do you own any weird and wonderful rock star paraphernalia? Let us know in the comments.

April Neale | M&C

Janet Mayer

Halloween is rocking on AXS TV!

AXS TV is teaming up with the legendary and award-winning rock group KISS for Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31, when the Channel programs six concerts wrapped around fresh interstitial content featuring KISS.

Starting at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT), AXS TV kicks off its hard-rock Halloween with Judas Priest as the headliner. From there, the Channel keeps the beat past the witching hour of midnight until 4:45 a.m. ET (12:35 a.m. PT). The concert schedule includes AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Papa Roach and Alice Cooper. However, the cornerstone of the night is the network premiere of KISS’s Zurich, Switzerland concert, featuring their hit songs and music from their KISS MONSTER album. AXS TV CONCERTS recorded that event live last May and it has been edited, but not censored when it debuts at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).

The schedule for AXS TV’s KISS MONSTER MARATHON includes:

Thursday, October 31 (All Times Eastern)

3:30 p.m. JUDAS PRIEST LIVE: BRITISH STEEL 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL – Judas Priest celebrates the 30th anniversary of “British Steel” from the Hard Rock Arena in Hollywood, Florida.

4:45 p.m. PAPA ROACH LIVE FROM CLUB NOKIA – Papa Roach presents one of the best rock shows this year live from Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

5:55 p.m. IRON MAIDEN EN VIVO! – En Vivo! captures the always exciting atmosphere that fans have come to expect from Iron Maiden. Filmed in Chile, the concert features favorites such as “The Trooper,” “The Number of the Beast” and “Fear of the Dark” as well as hits from the No.1 studio album “The Final Frontier.”

7:30 p.m. AT HELL’S DOOR: BEHIND THE SCENES AT HELLFEST – Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach takes over Hellfest in Clisson, France to give viewers an inside look at what goes on backstage, onstage and more at one of Europe’s biggest and craziest rock festivals. (Repeats at 1:00 a.m. ET)

8:00 p.m. KISS MONSTER WORLD TOUR: LIVE FROM EUROPE CONCERT – NETWORK PREMIERE – AXS TV was on hand to tape KISS’ Zurich, Switzerland concert live last May, making this edited version a network premiere. The concert featured new staging, lighting and pyrotechnics that had never been seen before on TV. (Repeats at 1:30 a.m. ET).

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Mariecar Mendoza | Los Angeles Daily News

Enjoy Sunday Funday with rock legend Gene Simmons at his restaurant Rock & Brews off the PCH.

The Kiss frontman and his wife, Shannon Tweed, plan to join diners and football fans at the rock-themed eatery at its Redondo Beach/Torrance adjacent location at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 as part of Rock & Brews’ ongoing NFL Sunday Ticket promotion.

Simmons opened Rock & Brews with fellow Kiss band member Paul Stanley opened the 6300 S. Pacific Coast Highway Rock & Brewsrestaurant in May. It was the third Rock & Brews since the chain opened its first establishment in downtown El Segundo in 2012. A second Rock & Brews opened in March in Los Cabos, Mexico. Another local incarnation opened at the Los Angeles International Airport just last month.

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Ultimate Guitar

After recently expressing his pessimistic stance on the current state of rock music and mildly ripping late Nirvana frontmanKurt Cobain, Kiss bassist Gene Simmonsonce again shared a similar attitude, acknowledging Kanye West‘s comments and putting Foo Fighters and Green Day on his “not superstar-worthy” list of performers.

During a chat with the Metal Hammer Magazine Show, Simmons was initially asked to comment on Kanye’s statement that rap is the new rock ‘n’ roll and that he’s the world’s No. 1 rockstar.

“I know Kanye and he’s playing the game and he’s got you wrapped around his finger because you are talking about him and we’re actually more about guitar and drums,” Gene said. “He’s right of course in the sense that rock has become a pale thing to what it once was.”

After denying that rap can be considered as the new rock, the bassist once again“played the game” of comparing the 1958 – 1983 era to post-1984 period. “Foo Fighters – great band. Green Day – great band. Iconic superstars? No,” he said. During the rest of the interview, Simmons discussed his recent US National Anthem performance, pointing out the importance of sticking to the original melody and paying the country respect it deserves.

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Jo Polo | Podcast Rock City

Krazy Knights

KISS Army Nation TV

Billy Dukes | Ultimate Classic Rock

Frazer Harrison / Paul Kane / Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Almost eight months after opening its doors with a superstar week of rock music, the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy is lining up more talent to raise money for the music school. Alice Cooper and Kiss will be there again, as will Vince Neil, Rob Zombie and others.

The Brennan Academy is located in Sioux Falls, S.D., but the Dec. 5 fundraiser will take place at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Tickets go on sale Oct. 11 at the venue’s website. Reserved seats cost $100, with proceeds going to a school known for offering free music lessons and instruction to kids who otherwise can’t afford them. Rock instruments are the focus.

The school’s founder, Chuck Brennan, is a former concert promoter and friend of both Cooper’s and Kiss’. In March, Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger and Sebastian Bach were part of a week-long celebration at the school that also included sets by comedians George Lopez and Louis Anderson. (Recently, Slash jammed with the kids from Brennan.)

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Michael Sedon | Staten Island Advance

photo – Jan Somma-Hammel

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — KISS’s Peter Criss is a rock ‘n’ roll legend — a man’s man teens idolize and men want to be.

But for a year, he kept a secret because he didn’t know how fans would view him.

Criss is a breast cancer survivor.

“It was embarrassing to talk about, because it’s not a man thing,” Criss told more than 100 students and faculty members gathered in St. John’s University’s Kelleher Center on Thursday for an event to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

After discovering a painful lump while working out six years ago, he visited his doctor, who initially told him it was nothing to worry about before diagnosing him.

“I was freaked out,” Criss said. “Immediately, I went ‘What? Men don’t get breast cancer.'”

Because it was caught in the beginning stages, the growth was removed by
surgery, avoiding the painful regiment of chemotherapy.

For the next year, Criss didn’t tell anyone of the ordeal because he felt embarrassed as a man to have had the disease.

But once he began noticing that there really were not any prominent figures — or any figures for that matter — raising awareness that men can get the disease, he decided to speak out.

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This party is unique in that it has been taking place at the Hard Rock Cafe Miami every October since 2011 when the very first KISS KRUISE was launched. This has therefore now become a beautiful tradition…a tradition we hope you will join us for and be a part of.

You are all cordially invited to attend what is sure to be an AMAZING evening. This is no ordinary party, it is a Benefit for a very worthy cause, the Wounded Warrior Project. 100% of the proceeds from raffles/auctions will go to them.

It is also a chance to get to know fellow KISS fans from far and near in a very special way while sharing the excitement of kicking off what is sure to be the voyage of a lifetime~The KISS KRUISE!

Special Guests:

The one and only….BRUCE KULICK (KISS Guitarist 1984-1996)

MARIA CONTESSA (KISS’ Original Costume Designer; 1974-1983.

Live Performances by:

PRISS (All female KISS tribute band/Winner of “Hottest Tribute Band Contest 2013”  (picked by KISS themselves as well as hundreds of KISS KRUISERS)

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Roman Fernandez

Miami venue hosts KISS KRUISE III Pre-Party to benefit Sophie’s Place, Child Advocacy Centre.

Miami, FL – On October 28th, legendary rock band, KISS, will take their show to the high seas for the third year in a row. However, October 27th will see a twelve hour “KISS KRUISE” Pre-Party at Will Call Miami, with all net proceeds from ticket sales to benefit Sophie’s Place, Child Advocacy Centre.  Sophie’s Place is a program of The Centre for Child Development in British Columbia named after its patron, Sophie Tweed-Simmons – daughter of infamous KISS frontman, Gene Simmons, and Canadian model turned actress, Shannon Tweed.

Sophie’s Place, Child Advocacy Centre is focused on providing specialized services to physically, mentally or sexually abused children in a child-friendly designed setting.

“It’s really important that kids have a place to go where they can be taken seriously, and where they can express what’s happened to them in a safe environment”, says Sophie Tweed-Simmons.

The full day festival will include KISS-related special guests, Q&A’s, meet and greets, raffles, activities, food, themed drinks, and live music. Amongst the special guests are KISS producer and studio guitarist, Bob Kulick; author of new KISS biography, Ken Sharp; Alan Parker, director of KISS documentary film in production, You Wanted The Best… You Got The Best!; model and TV personality, Megan McCracken; and recording artist, Lyn Christopher, whose debut album in 1973 saw the first appearance of KISS’s Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on a major record label release.

The raffle will include an autographed bass guitar by Gene Simmons, a cabin upgrade aboard the Norwegian Pearl on this year’s KISS KRUISE, autographed copies of the new KISS biography, Nothin’ to Lose, and other band related items. Live music will include Mr. Speed, voted best KISS tribute band of 2012 by the very members of KISS, Lyn Christopher, and local rockers: The No. 13’s and The Super Fuzz.

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Chris Erskine | LA Times

David Livingston

Visionaries like you and me scoff at such thinking. Of course, visionaries always seem a little nuts.

Appreciate for a moment that a sport born and nurtured in America’s steel towns now has a team called the KISS, sponsored by rock legends famous as much for their makeup as their music.

Dull, backward-thinking traditionalists see the Arena Football League as a tacky offshoot of real football. I see real football as a brutal, bloated, family-hostile sport in need of some healthy competition. Every business needs that, even raging successes like the NFL.

And if you prefer monopolies, look what an outstanding job the NCAA does. Can’t wait till someone proposes an alternative to that, with a real playoff system and trust funds for players.

Till then, I say bring on the Arena Football League. Season seats sell for $99 for a package of 10 games, in the lower bowl of the Honda Center. Which, of course, technically means they are the Los Angeles KISS of Anaheim — sound familiar?

“Our best seats are like putting folding chairs on the hash marks,” brags co-owner Brett Bouchy.

That could hurt, but OK. Note that KISS execs are considering painting the field black.

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KISS Navy

KISS Navy Invades Miami Sat Oct 26th , Holiday Inn 340 Biscayne Blvd 6PM-12AM for a great cause, (Breast Cancer Research Foundation) come one all, (free to get in) Raffles All night for KISS goodies.  100 Percent of the $$$ made will go to the charity. If you can’t make it you also can donate by PayPal KK3BCRF@Comcast.net

Thanks for helping Us KISS Cancer Goodbye! – Denise Hopkins, Jeff Hopkins,Andy Moyen,Lydia Criss, Dj Andrew Noiz, John Friedrich

Jeff Giles | 103.7 The Loon

Brenda Chase

You could fill half a dozen documentaries with behind-the-scenes stories from Kiss‘ career. Unfortunately, now that there’s an official movie in the works, ongoing bitterness will keep two former members from sharing their Kisstory.

Classic Rock Magazine reports that Alan G. Parker, director of the band-sanctioned upcoming film ‘You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best,’ has had his interview requests turned down by guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss.

Founding members of the band whose stormy on-again, off-again tenures have coincided with some of the most successful music in the Kiss catalog, Frehley and Criss are important parts of the group’s story, but their ongoing feuds with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are keeping them from participating.

“There’s been so much bitchiness down the years, and so much said about and done to Ace and Peter, that they interpreted the request to be in the movie as a favor to Gene and Paul,” explained Parker. “Because of that, they won’t go anywhere near it. The negotiations were interesting, to say the least.”

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NJ KISS Expo

THANK YOU Tommy Thayer for giving us such a memorable experience and staying extra long to sign for everyone. THANK YOU Keith Leroux for organizing and running the autograph event so smoothly. THANK YOU to our long line of guests – Lydia Criss, Lyn Christopher, Ken Kelly, Len DeLessio, Jim Cara, Carol Ross, Eddie Solan, Binky Philips and Ken Sharp. THANK YOU Phil Dieli and your henchmen for maintaining order the whole day. THANK YOU Kristen and the two Jens for your hard work at the front ticket desk. THANK YOU to all the KISS Dealers who you know were really the main attraction and most of all THANK YOU TO ALL THE 1,500 KISS FANS FOR COMING TO OUR EVENT! See you next year – the date has already been set and will return to the same venue:

New Jersey KISS Expo 2014 – Saturday, September 13, 2014
NJ Convention and Exposition Center, at the Raritan Center
97 Sunfield Ave, Edison NJ 08837

See the NJ KISS Expo photo gallery HERE.

Guests, ticket sales, events and all other info will be posted HERE at NJKISSexpo.com later on this year. Mark your calendar now and see you then!

Lucy Hobson | Star Pulse

Kiss star Gene Simmons has joked the passengers on the Kiss Kruise worship Satan.

The 64-year-old bassist and his bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer are set to host the third annual cruise for fans from October 28, during which they will play an acoustic show without their trademark make-up and celebrate the spooky holiday Halloween.

Gene claims one of the leisure activities on offer to paying passengers is a ceremony celebrating Hell-dweller Beelzebub – who, according to the Christian faith, is an evil fallen angel who rebelled against God and wishes to lead humanity away from moral behavior.

In an interview with UK station Absolute Radio 90s, Gene said: “We’ve been touring the world for two-and-a-half years, on and off, and we’re going to Japan in about a week and a half, and right after the Japanese tour, we do the Kiss Kruise. It’s four or five thousand crazed fans who gather on a ship and worship Satan. We do all kinds of crazy things, wear make-up and all kinds of fun stuff.”

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Peter Arquette | KISSasylum.com

Click HERE to see the entire gallery of yesterday’s record-breaking event! If you attended this event, please email us your photos HERE at our news link to add to this gallery, thanks!

Peter Arquette

Phil Fiumano | NY Rocks TV
 

WFJA Classic Hits

KISS singer/guitarist Paul Stanley has revealed when fans can expect to get their hands on his hotly anticipated book about his life.  On Thursday, Stanley posted a photo on his official Twitter account showing him looking at what appears to be a roll of negatives along with a message that reads, “Going through 60 years of photos to choose some to include in my autobiography coming out this spring.”

The news comes just a few weeks after the publication of Nothing to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975), the book about the rockers’ formation and early years that Stanley co-wrote with band mate Gene Simmonsand veteran rock writer Ken Sharp.

KISS, meanwhile, is preparing to head overseas next month for a brief tour of Japan that is mapped out from October 19 to October 24.  The band also will be taking part in the third installment of their KISS Kruise, which runs from October 28 to November 1, and will follow that up with a November 8 show in Calgary, Canada.