Kiss Follow Up

On the eve of the Japanese and Australian leg of the Farewell Tour on January 31, 2001, Peter Criss suddenly left the band once again, because he and the band could not come to agreement with his contract salary. Taking his place was previous Kiss drummer Eric Singer who assumed Criss's Cat persona as the Farewell Tour continued.

With the band supposedly set to retire by early 2001, a career-encompassing collection entitled simply The Box Set, consisting of 94 tracks on five CDs, was released in November of that year, while the summer saw perhaps the most outrageous item of Kiss merchandise yet – the Kiss Kasket. In introducing the Kiss Kasket, Gene Simmons quipped, "I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good."

On December 4, 2001, Kiss was one of the honorees at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences ("The Recording Academy") Heroes Award ceremony, at the NARAS New York Chapter. NARAS has 12 chapters throughout the United States, hence 12 ceremonies throughout the year, with the honorees each being honored by the chapter closest to their residence. By receiving this honor, which NARAS has renamed the "Recording Academy Honors", Kiss effectively received NARAS' second-highest career honor, right behind the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kiss was relatively quiet through the rest of the year, but 2002 started with some controversy as Gene Simmons took part in a controversial interview on National Public Radio with host Terry Gross. In February 2002, Kiss (with Eric Singer on drums and Ace Frehley on lead guitar) performed during the closing ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah which was Frehley's final performance as a member of Kiss. On March 6, 2002, Kiss performed a private concert at a resort in Trelawny, Jamaica. Frehley, who was no longer under contract, did not perform with the group.

He was replaced by Tommy Thayer, who donned Frehley's Spaceman makeup and costume for his first live appearance with Kiss. That month, the band (with Thayer) taped an appearance on the American sitcom That '70s Show. The episode, "That '70s Kiss Show", aired in August 2002. Thayer again performed with the group in April 2002, when Kiss performed "Detroit Rock City" (with pre-recorded music and live vocals) for an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary show, which aired on May 3. In February 2003, Kiss traveled to Australia and recorded Kiss Symphony: Alive IV with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Marvel Stadium (then known as Telstra Dome) in Melbourne.

Thayer once again replaced Frehley, while Criss returned to the group, as one of the conditions set forth by promoters required the band's lineup to include at least three original members.

Despite claims made prior to The Farewell Tour that it would be the group's last, Kiss toured with Aerosmith in 2003. Frehley announced that his departure from the band was permanent, stating that he believed the Farewell Tour would be Kiss's last, and declined Simmons' invitation to join the band on the Aerosmith tour. He was permanently replaced by Thayer, as Kiss moved into a post-reunion phase that saw the band easing into a new lineup, permanently featuring Thayer as "Spaceman" and Singer as "the Catman". On this tour, still featuring Criss, the group introduced the "Platinum" tickets package, with the most expensive packages costing $1,000. This package included a seat in the first five rows, a meet-and-greet with Kiss after their performance and a photograph with the band. The tour earned more than $64 million in 2003, which ranked seventh for the year.

Simmons and Stanley did not renew Criss's contract when it expired in March 2004. Criss, on his website, stated that "No one, again, no one has called me, or my attorney about an extension for future touring. As a founding member I find this to be disrespectful to me, and to the fans that have made us one of the biggest bands in the world." Eric Singer once again replaced Criss.

In mid-2004, Kiss headlined the Rock the Nation 2004 World Tour, with Poison as the opening act. The tour ended in August with a sold-out show in Mexico City. Selected dates on the tour were filmed for the Rock the Nation Live! concert DVD, released on December 13, 2005. Paul Stanley, who had been experiencing increasing difficulty with his hip, had his mobility limited during the tour. He has already had two hip surgeries performed, with more likely in the future.

After the conclusion of the Rock the Nation Tour, Kiss performed only sporadically for a number of years. The group played two shows in 2005, and another six in 2006. Four of the 2006 shows were July concerts in Japan, including two dates (July 22 and 23) as a headlining act at the 2006 Udo Music Festival. Kiss performed four July 2007 concerts, three of which were dubbed the Hit 'N Run Tour. Prior to the final show on July 27, Paul Stanley was hospitalized with an extremely rapid heartbeat. In his absence, Kiss performed in concert as a trio for the first time since 1982. This was the first Kiss concert that Stanley had missed during his then 34-year tenure with the group.

Kiss (along with Queen, Def Leppard and Judas Priest) were honored at the inaugural "VH1 Rock Honors" event, held May 25, 2006, in Las Vegas. In June 2006, Simmons and Stanley attended the opening of the Kiss Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On October 15, 2006, Simmons, Stanley and Criss were inaugural inductees into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, along with performers such as Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Louis Armstrong, The Ramones and Tony Bennett.

Paul Stanley released his second solo album, Live to Win, on October 24, 2006, and undertook a brief solo tour in support. On October 31 the same year, the group released Kissology Volume One: 1974–1977, the first of 10 possible DVD sets featuring complete concert footage, interviews and never-before-seen clips. By January 2007, the set had been certified 5× Platinum in the United States. A second volume was released on August 14, 2007. It was certified 6× Platinum by the RIAA on October 24. What seemed to be the final entry, Kissology Volume Three: 1992–2000, was released on December 18, 2007, and has been certified 8× Platinum by the R.I.A.A.

In April 2007, former guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent cerebral hemorrhage at age 51. After being forced to leave Kiss in 1984, St. John formed the short-lived glam metal group White Tiger.

Though Kiss had been eligible for enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1999, they were not nominated until 2009 and were not inducted until 2014. While this snub displeased some fans, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons maintained that it was meaningless to them.

Nevertheless, a group of about 200 Kiss fans held a protest rally in front of the Hall of Fame in Cleveland on August 5, 2006. It was the first known organized demonstration seeking the induction of a band into the Hall.

In 2007, a new comic book series featuring the band was released by the Kiss Comics Group in association with Platinum Studios, titled Kiss 4K: Legends Never Die.

The band picked up their pace in 2008, embarking on their first proper tour of Europe in nearly a decade. On January 30, 2008, Paul Stanley confirmed that Kiss would launch the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour, playing arena and stadium shows in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. On March 16, 2008, Kiss closed the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit as well as performing in Brisbane and Sydney as part of this tour. Kiss played at the Rock2Wgtn two-day festival held in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 22 and 23, 2008; the festival also featured Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Poison, Alice Cooper, Lordi, Sonic Altar and Symphony of Screams, with special effects provided by WETA Workshop (of The Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame).

Throughout the summer of 2008, Kiss headlined festivals as well as their own shows and played to a record audience of about 400,000 people. As part of this tour, Kiss headlined the Download Festival at England's Donington Park on June 13. Three days later, they headlined the Arrow Rock Festival in Nijmegen, Netherlands. On June 28, Kiss headlined the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium. It was the last show of the European leg of the Kiss Alive 35 World Tour. On August 4, Kiss played at Rockin' the Rally at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as part of the tour. South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds proclaimed August 4, 2008, to be "Kiss Rock and Roll Day" in South Dakota. In September 2008, both Simmons and Stanley confirmed rumors that the Kiss Alive 35 World Tour would continue with extensive tours of North America in the beginning of 2009, as well as South America. The latter tour included shows on April 5 in Argentina, April 7 and 8 in Brazil, April 11 in Colombia, April 14 in Peru, and other concerts in Venezuela and Chile. That summer, Kiss came back to North America to continue the Alive 35 World World Tour, starting on July 18 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

More than 10 years after their last studio album, and following years of denials about ever wanting to do a new album, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons changed their minds. In November 2008, Stanley stated to rock photographer Ross Halfin that a new Kiss album was in the works. Stanley himself would be the producer, and the album would have a "real 70s Kiss sound" to it. Later that month, Simmons and Stanley both publicly confirmed the information about a new Kiss album:

"We have 4 tunes recorded. If you're a fan of our stuff from about 1977, you'll feel right at home. All of us have taken up the songwriting call to arms in the same spirit we once did – without a care in the world and without outside writers. Nothing to prove to anyone. Just doing what comes naturally. Ignoring fashions, trends and with a personal vow from all of us: no rapping. There are plenty of people out there doing this and they don't need four palefaced guys pretending they're from the hood. Besides, I'm not sure how to correctly pronounce 'wassup.' See you all there ... Or maybe later!"

The band appeared on American Idol in May 2009, performing "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" with Adam Lambert.

In October 2009, a new studio album, titled Sonic Boom, was released. It included a CD of new material, re-recorded versions of famous Kiss hits (previously released as Jigoku-Retsuden, a Japanese exclusive album in 2008) and a live DVD recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Modern Day Delilah" was released as the lead single from Sonic Boom on August 19, 2009. The song was Kiss's first single release in 11 years, since 1998's "You Wanted the Best". The song gained positive feedback from both critics and fans, and was compared to the band's 1970s work. In support of the new album, Kiss appeared live on Late Show with David Letterman on October 6, 2009, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 7, 2009. Sonic Boom debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

On September 25, 2009, the Kiss Alive 35 North American Tour kicked off at Cobo Hall in Detroit; both nights were filmed for future DVD release. These were the band's final performances there, as the venue was later closed as part of the renovation of the Cobo Center. Kiss headlined the 2009 Voodoo Experience held at City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Halloween night. During their performance at the MTS Centre on November 9, 2009, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, one of the lighting trusses caught on fire from a pyro cue. The truss had to be lowered in order to have the fire put out. During the five or so minutes it took to extinguish the fire, the band broke into the song "Firehouse". No one was hurt and the show continued.

Kiss started the European leg of the Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour in May 2010. Tragedy struck Kiss for a third time when former manager Bill Aucoin died of cancer on June 28, 2010, at the age of 66. Stanley and Simmons said he was like the fifth member of Kiss. The tour included their first UK arena shows in 11 years and their first visit to Slovakia. Kiss later played at two dates in US cities Cheyenne, Wyoming and the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, North Dakota, in July 2010. They also played at the Indiana State Fair in August and the Minnesota State Fair in September.

They also made a brief appearance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 17, 2010. On July 23, Kiss started The Hottest Show on Earth Tour in the United States. On April 13, 2011, Kiss began recording a new album due for release later in the year. Gene Simmons stated, the album "is gonna be the next step to Sonic Boom. Very similar – straight rock songs, no ballads, no keyboards, no nothing, just rock." The band also used old analog equipment instead of more popular digital recording gear. Simmons said: "Technology is a seductive bitch, she will seduce you.

You press this button, you don't have to do anything. But analog is the love of your life. You can push real hard and it always gives back. For the new album, the actual recording process was 24-track tape and an old Trident board. And as many tubes as possible. You need tubes, electricity and thick wood to make that thick sound." Kiss spent the summer of 2011 playing venues in the US and Canada, visiting cities they had not played in some time; it was dubbed the "Lost Cities Tour".

Their next album Monster was released in October 2012. KISS by Monster Mini Golf was opened in March 2012 in Las Vegas. The facility is an 18-hole indoor miniature golf course, featuring arcade games, a gift shop, and numerous pieces of band memorabilia on display. The complete current version of the band attended the grand opening.

Kiss appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 20, 2012. A press conference was held on the same day to announce a summer North American tour called The Tour, co-headlined by Mötley Crüe. The Tour started on July 20 and ended on October 1. The single "Hell or Hallelujah" was released internationally on July 2, 2012, and on July 3 in North America. Monster was released on October 9, 2012, in North America.

Kiss kicked off the Monster World Tour on November 7, 2012, in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the River Plate Stadium and continued the six-date South American leg with dates in Santiago, Asunción, Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro until November 18. The Australian leg began on February 28, 2013, in Perth at the Perth Arena and ran through March 16 in Mackay at Virgin Australian Stadium. They were joined by Mötley Crüe, Thin Lizzy and Diva Demolition. The band extensively toured Europe and Canada with a few US dates in June through August, and then Japan in October.

On October 16, 2013, Kiss was again announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was subsequently announced as an inductee on December 17.

In 2013, Kiss purchased a share of an Arena Football League expansion franchise set to begin play at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, in 2014. Simmons, Stanley and manager McGhee jointly owned the team, called the Los Angeles Kiss. Both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are known fans of the AFL.

The LA Kiss offered National Football League free agent quarterback Tim Tebow a contract to join their team and play in the AFL, but he did not join. The team folded in 2016. Bizarrely, Simmons was also an "owner for a day" of the Carlton Football Club, a team that participates in the Australian Football League and which is also commonly abbreviated to AFL, although this purchase was unofficial and purportedly done for tax purposes, according to Simmons. Simmons has nevertheless been a fan of Carlton and Australian rules football since at least 2008.

In 2014, Kiss toured as co-headliners with Def Leppard. After Simmons toured with Joe Elliott in South America, the two talked about their bands working together. From June 23 to August 31, 2014, the bands toured 42 cities, with a dollar per ticket donated to such military charities as Wounded Warrior Project.

For the first time in the band's 41-year history, Kiss was featured on the cover of the April 10, 2014 (Issue 1206) edition of Rolling Stone magazine. On April 10, 2014, Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Though the rockers did not perform, the original four members showed up at the 29th annual induction ceremony in Brooklyn to accept the honor. Former guitarist Bruce Kulick revealed that he, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer were also present at the Hall of Fame induction; the three were invited by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons even though the Hall of Fame only chose to induct the four founding members. Kulick also claimed that Simmons and Stanley would have wanted to perform despite their ongoing disagreements with founding members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, but that the Hall of Fame was too stringent in their rules. Kulick's own idea for a potential Hall of Fame induction would have been an acoustic set with all seven members present that night (Simmons, Stanley, Criss, Frehley, Kulick himself, Singer, and Thayer) performing. In November 2014 the band played a historic nine-show run at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

On January 28, 2015, Kiss released a collaboration single with the Japanese female idol group Momoiro Clover Z, titled "Yume no Ukiyo ni Saite Mi na". It was the first time Kiss had issued a collaboration record with another artist. In Japan, it was released physically in two versions: "Momoiro Clover Z Edition" (on CD and Blu-ray) and "Kiss Edition" (CD only). An alternate mix of the single's title song was also included as an opening track on the Japanese-only SHM-CD album Best of, Kiss 40, released in Japan on the same day.

Before the collaboration, the members of Kiss had watched concert videos of Momoiro Clover Z. Paul Stanley later commented during an interview:

"Spectacular show! Great choreography! Music like we never heard before. We said, "this is something we can do!" Somebody said, "Kiss, why are you doing it?" "Because we can!" It's two worlds getting together, doing something unbelievable. Music power rocks the world."

On September 15, 2015, the RIAA announced that the band had earned more Gold records than any other American band in the association's 63-year history, with a total of 30 Gold album awards (including the band's four 1978 solo albums). Cary Sherman, the RIAA CEO and chairman, commented: "What an extraordinary achievement for an enduring band. Forty years later and the band is still rocking. Congratulations to Kiss on their Gold album milestone and continued success."

In 2016, Kiss conducted a summer tour, titled the Freedom to Rock Tour, of less frequented cities and smaller venues. The tour ran throughout the summer, with opening acts Caleb Johnson and The Dead Daisies. On December 13, 2016, Kiss performed during the season 11 finale of The Voice, accompanied by the season winner Sundance Head.

There had been conflicting stories regarding whether Kiss would record another album. Gene Simmons had said "yes" in interviews, saying that he had songs written and lined up for a new album. Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer disputed this, however, and said that they did not vow to make one and that the band could move forward without new music. However, on March 25, 2021, Stanley stated that he has not ruled out the possibility of Kiss producing new music, with both Simmons and Stanley stating in later interviews that the band does not need to record another album.

The band continued to perform shows in North America and Europe on the Kissworld Tour throughout 2017 and 2018.

On September 19, 2018, following a performance on America's Got Talent, Kiss announced that it would be ending its career with the End of the Road World Tour in 2019. Paul Stanley commented:

"This is gonna be our last tour. It will be the most explosive, biggest show we've ever done. People who love us, come see us. If you've never seen us, this is the time. This will be the show."

In October 2018, the band reunited with Ace Frehley and Bruce Kulick on the Kiss Kruise. It performed "2,000 Man", "New York Groove", "Nothin' to Lose", and "Rock and Roll All Nite". This was the first time Frehley and the band had performed together since 2002 for the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and Kulick's first time performing with the band live since his departure in 1996.

The band's final tour began on January 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In February 2019, Simmons said the farewell tour would likely gross between $150 million and $200 million, "not counting ancillaries, licensing, merchandise and stuff like that". During the first leg of the End of the Road World Tour, Kiss was accused by fans of lip syncing and using backing tracks. Three years prior, Simmons had been critical of bands using backing tracks on live shows.

Former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach defended Kiss, saying that the band did not lip-sync at the show he attended. Stanley did not confirm nor deny that he lip syncs on stage, saying he is taking care of his voice. Accusations were revived by fans following the band's Belgium performance when there was a slip-up with the fireworks and drum cues on the opening song. Doc McGhee, the band's manager, later confirmed that Stanley did sing fully, confirming simultaneously that Stanley will sing to tracks, but denied that he was lip syncing.

On November 14, 2019, the band announced that its Australia and New Zealand shows on its final tour had been canceled due to Paul Stanley's health issues, and stated: "Doctor's orders ultimately have taken precedence and finally we now find ourselves with no choice but to surrender". In December 2019, X Japan's Yoshiki joined the band in Tokyo and Osaka on their Japan leg to perform "Beth" on piano and "Rock and Roll All Nite" on drums. They would later collaborate on a televised New Year's Eve performance in Japan, performing "Rock and Roll All Nite" under the combined name "YoshiKiss".

Kiss appeared again as special guests on America's Got Talent on February 17, 2020, with a televised performance of "Rock and Roll All Nite". The band would later dedicate "Do You Love Me" to Kobe Bryant and the 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash victims during the Los Angeles show at the Staples Center on March 4, 2020.

With the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band had temporarily ceased its final tour, with Simmons commenting that the tour would continue once scientists had confirmed that it is safe to resume. The 2020 edition of Kiss Kruise had been postponed to October 2021, as a result of the pandemic.

Kiss had announced on November 20, 2020, that they would perform an exclusive New Year's Eve 2020 livestream show. The Kiss New Year's Eve 2020 Goodbye livestream concert was produced by City Drive Studios and directed by Daniel Catullo. The pay-per-view concert was part of the Landmarks Live Series and was filmed with over fifty 4K cameras with 360-degree views on a 250-foot stage at The Royal Beach at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. The performance broke two Guinness World Records: one for the highest flame projection in a music concert and another for the most flame projections launched simultaneously in a music concert.

On December 2, 2020, Gene Simmons confirmed that the band would continue their final tour in the summer of 2021, in which there are another 150 shows left, as well as rescheduling the Australian leg of the final tour. In a June 2021 interview, Paul Stanley remained optimistic that the band would complete their final tour when playing concerts was safe and discussed the inevitable retirement of Kiss. He also did not rule out the possibility of former members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss making appearances during the final tour, stating that he was "open to the idea". Simmons later invited Frehley to perform encores with the band for their final tour, but Frehley turned down the invitation, also ruling out the possibility of performing at the band's final show and expressing doubt that the band would stop touring.

It was announced on December 15, 2020, that a biographical film of the band was in the works, with hopes to release it on time with the band's final concert. The band's manager Doc McGhee spoke about the process: "Hopefully in the next week we'll have a company behind it, and we'll start finishing the script, and hopefully by the time we end we'll have a movie finished for July of next year." Deadline reported that Netflix has nearly finalized a deal to produce the Kiss biopic titled "Shout it Out Loud", which will be released in 2024.

The film will be made with close cooperation from both Simmons and Stanley, and will focus on the formative years of the band. Following the announcement of the biopic, a two-part documentary on the band titled Biography: Kisstory was also announced and aired on A&E on both June 27 and 28, 2021, with an exclusive live performance following after its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11, 2021. In an interview on October 6, 2021, Paul Stanley confirmed that the final concert for Kiss would happen within the next year and a half, stating:

"I believe strongly by the beginning of 2023 we will be finished, it seems only natural for the final show to be in New York. That is where the band started, and that was really the background for the band getting together and writing these songs and played loft parties and played clubs starting with an audience of probably 10 people. It seems we should go full circle." The band performed on board for the 2022 edition of the Kiss Kruise in October to November 2022, which was their final time performing on the cruise. In addition to adding another 100 cities on tour into 2023, Simmons stated that the band would be retiring out of self-respect and love for the fans and that he would be very emotional during the band's final performance which he presumed would take place around 2024, although band manager Doc McGhee insisted that their final show would take place in 2023.

Kiss performed as the headline act for the pre-game entertainment at the 2023 AFL Grand Final in Australia on September 30, 2023, in front of more than 100,000 spectators in the stadium and a television audience of about 1.2 million in Australia alone, not including online streaming figures. A week after the AFL performance, Kiss performed their final Australian show in Sydney.

Despite the tour being their final, both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have not ruled out the possibility that Kiss could continue without them or the original members for a "new generation" with a possibility of occasional guest appearances. Simmons had expressed interest in the band performing a concert residency in Las Vegas following the announcement for the band's final shows, but Stanley later ruled out that possibility, stating that he "couldn't see that happening". Simmons later confirmed on November 14, 2023, that while the tour was the band's last, the brand would continue with a cartoon show, further merchandise and Kiss-themed travelling shows with different musicians. He also reiterated that the band had no plans to record another album, citing music streaming and downloads as factors. Kiss performed their final show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 2, 2023, which was streamed via Pay-per-view.

At the end of the band's final show in New York City, it was announced that the band would live on as digital avatars for fully virtual stage show performances, which was created by Industrial Light and Magic and Pophouse, who had previously created ABBA's similar ABBAtar digital presentation. While Gene Simmons stated that $200 million was being invested for the avatars, the first digital avatar shows are set to start in 2027, with Tommy Thayer stating in a January 2024 interview that it would "take some time to get the imagery" where the band would want it to be, regarding it as the future of entertainment. Gene Simmons is currently continuing to work with the American rock-inspired restaurant Rock & Brews, and performing with his solo band, in which he played his first post-Kiss show at the opening of a Rock & Brews restaurant in Ridgefield, Washington in April 2024, shortly before performing at Summer Breeze in Brazil that same month.

Kiss has typically been classified under the genres of Hard rock, Heavy metal, Shock rock, Glam metal, and Glam rock. Most of its 1970s albums, particularly the first six released between 1974 and 1977 as well as 1982's Creatures of the Night and 1984's Animalize, featured a hard rock or traditional heavy metal style. 1979's Dynasty and 1980's Unmasked featured a more Disco/Pop rock sound, and 1981's Music from "The Elder" found the band dabbling in Progressive rock. In 1983, starting with Lick It Up and the removal of its trademark makeup, the band began incorporating glam metal into its sound and visual image. Later, in the early 1990s, its sound grew heavier and abandoned the glam metal sound. In the mid-1990s, the band returned to its original sound.

Its music is described as "a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock, driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, cloying melodies, and sweeping strings. It was a sound that laid the groundwork for both Arena rock and the Pop-metal that dominated Rock in the late 1980s." The first review of Kiss by Rolling Stone, in 1973, described the band as "an American Black Sabbath". The same magazine's review of Hotter than Hell stated that "with twin guitars hammering out catchy mondo-distorto riffs and bass and drums amiably bringing up the rear, Kiss spews forth a deceptively controlled type of thunderous hysteria." At the same time, Bennington Banner from Rock Music magazine said, "With its members' bizarre, Kabuki-like makeup, studded black leather costumes and arsenal of on-stage firepower – both musical and literal – Kiss represents the most extreme form of hard rock in 1974."

The band is famous for its iconic makeup designs, each of which represents a different character or persona. The original four designs consisted of: the "Starchild" (Paul Stanley), the "Demon" (Gene Simmons), the "Spaceman" (Ace Frehley, Tommy Thayer), and the "Catman" (Peter Criss, Eric Singer). The band formerly included a practice of giving any new members a new persona, such as "the Fox" (Eric Carr) and "the Ankh Warrior" for Vinnie Vincent.

This practice was ended after Thayer and Singer took up Frehley's "Spaceman" and Criss's "Catman" personas respectively. When asked on the matter, Simmons stated "Why wouldn't we use the classic makeup? We own it". Criss relinquished his rights to his makeup when he left the band in 2004, which he later regretted, saying "I'm pissed at myself that my makeup slipped through my hands", while Frehley claims he licensed his design to the band and would get it back, a notion which Stanley has called "a fantasy".

During 1973–74, Stanley occasionally used an alternative makeup design called the "Bandit" for select photo-shoots and live shows after Neil Bogart, head of Casablanca Records, suggested to him that he use a design that was symmetrical like those of the rest of the band. During this time, he was also still using the Starchild makeup—sometimes even using both designs at the same photo-shoots. In 1974, he stopped using the Bandit design permanently. On the cover of the band's debut album, Criss used a drastically different variation of his Catman makeup (dubbed the "Pantomime Cat") after he allowed the makeup artist at the shoot to use their own ideas instead of following the usual design. Carr was originally going to be the "Hawk", a design which Simmons recalled in his autobiography looked like Big Bird from Sesame Street. One photo of Carr wearing this proposed design exists today, and also one of a mannequin Stanley set up wearing the proposed makeup and outfit. Unlike the Bandit and Pantomime Cat, this alternative design was never used in any official capacity. The Hawk design was also considered for Vincent and Singer.

Mark St. John and Bruce Kulick were members of Kiss only during the non-makeup period. Kulick stated that had he ever worn makeup in the band, he would have liked to have been the "Dog": "I figure that since there's already a cat in the band, I should probably be the dog. I'd have a big circle around one eye and I'd look like Petey from the Little Rascals. I've actually seen one or two fan renditions of what that might look like, so yeah, I'd be the dog." The four original makeup designs have been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with ownership and licensing rights held by Simmons and Stanley.

Kiss was strongly influenced by Alice Cooper and New York Dolls, while Gene Simmons has stated that the band's "musical heart and soul lies in England". The Beatles and the Yardbirds' trio of rock guitarists Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were among the British acts he praised, with Simmons stating, "I've ripped off so many English riffs, if the British influence wasn't there, we wouldn't be here. "Rock and Roll All Nite" is a direct bastard child of Slade's 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now'". In his book, Kiss and Make-Up, Simmons wrote of the Glam rock group Slade, "... we liked the way they connected with the crowd and the way they wrote anthems ... we wanted that same energy, that same irresistible simplicity".

The world of concert touring was changed by Kiss's practice of erecting uniquely designed stage sets. Tours got larger, carrying more personnel and equipment, including sets, costumes, sound and lighting gear, and pyrotechnics, all requiring more trucking and the total cost increasing by millions of dollars. Kiss also innovated with a significant expansion of concert merchandising, selling non-musical Kiss-branded goods to concertgoers. The sales of merchandise helped pay for the concert expenses and bring a profit to the band as well as give them more of a presence without relying solely on radio. Other bands copied Kiss by selling their own branded goods at concerts, a practice which became more of a necessity in the 1980s with increasing costs of touring. In addition to concert merchandising, Kiss has extended its influence to include a full Kiss-themed mini-golf course at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.