In an interview to SiriusXM, Kiss talked about their opening acts through the years. Check it out:
Gene “Long-tongued” Simmons:
“AC/DC on their first tour. A band that shares the same philosophy – no matter what any other band is doing, to thine own self be true.
“I’ve said it before, but it’s more true now than ever. A lot of people look the same and act the same and do the same thing – rap, country… there’s a lot of sameness going on. Every once in a while, you see a band like AC/DC – nobody’s like them.
“We like to think we’re unique in that way too. Unique – to have your own fingerprint, ’cause Mother Nature knows best. There’s no other fingerprint on earth like us, and bands should march to the beat of their own drummer.”
Paul Stanley:
“I think for us, Rush was most exciting. When we first had them playing with us in Canada and John Rutsey was still the drummer. The first album was so… It was Humble Pie, it was Zeppelin.
“They obviously found their footing in something they wanted to do later on. They were always great.
“AC/DC with Bon [Scott], when we had them on tour. Great! Priest – Priest were phenomenal. Bob Seger… We can go down the list. Bob Seger got his first gold album on tour with us. John Cougar Mellencamp… Tom Petty… The list goes on and on.”
Eric Singer:
“I thought Rush was the best. I saw Rush open for KISS. I thought they were the coolest opening band.
“That was the ‘Fly By Night’ tour – early ’75. KISS had ‘Hotter Than Hell’ out and Rush had just gotten Neil Peart and they had ‘Fly By Night.’“
Here’s a small list of Kiss’s opening acts:
- Rush (1975)
- Tom Petty (1976)
- Uriah Heep (1976)
- Bob Seger (1976)
- Blue Oyster Cult (1976)
- Scorpions (1976)
- AC/DC (1977)
- Ted Nugent (1977)
- Sammy Hagar (1977)
- Judas Priest (1979)
- Iron Maiden (1980)
- Motley Crue (1983)
- Bon Jovi (1984)
- Anthrax (1987)
- Guns N’ Roses (1987)
- Alice in Chains (1996)
- Rage Against the Machine (1996)
- Rammstein (1999), and more.
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!