Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are about to get something even lifelong KISS fans can appreciate in a totally different way: a songwriting honor.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced Jan. 21 that Stanley and Simmons, credited as KISS founders, will be inducted as part of the Hall’s 2026 class.
If your brain immediately goes to face paint, pyro, and arena-size hooks, you’re not wrong. The Hall’s own announcement basically makes the case in a single line, naming KISS staples like “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Love It Loud,” “Calling Dr. Love,” “Shout It Out Loud,” and “Christine 16” as key songs in their catalog.
This isn’t a best performers award. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is specifically about the craft and cultural impact of the songs themselves.
The Hall, which was established in 1969, recognizes songwriters across genres. To qualify for induction, a songwriter becomes eligible 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.
And in Stanley and Simmons’ case, the songwriting legacy is hard to argue with. KISS built a career on choruses that feel like they were engineered to be shouted by thousands of people at once.
Related: ’90s Alternative Rock Icon Inducted Into the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame
The 2026 Induction Gala Details
The Hall’s announcement also confirmed that the 2026 Induction and Awards Gala is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. It will not be open to the general public, and additional special award honorees will be announced later.
Stanley and Simmons are part of an eclectic 2026 group that includes Taylor Swift, Alanis Morissette, Kenny Loggins, producer Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Walter Afanasieff, and songwriting duo Terry Britten and Graham Lyle.
KISS has always been a band people associate with spectacle. The makeup, the characters, the merchandise machine, the arena show. But a Songwriters Hall of Fame induction shifts the focus to something simpler: what’s on the page.
It also puts Stanley and Simmons’ work in the same conversation as other songwriting catalogs that are built around instantly recognizable hits. The Hall’s announcement pairs each inductee with signature songs, essentially a shorthand argument for why their work has lasted. For Stanley and Simmons, the list is a reminder that KISS did not just build a brand. They wrote songs that became part of rock’s shared vocabulary.
What Happens Next
The biggest immediate takeaway is simple: the Hall has officially put Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in the “songwriter legacy” category, not just “rock icon” territory.
From here, the next milestone is June 11 in New York City, when the 2026 class will be formally inducted at the gala.
For KISS fans, it’s also a clean way to re-enter the catalog. If you haven’t listened in a while, the Hall basically hands you a starting playlist. And it’s a reminder that regardless of what era you found the band in, you probably know the hooks by heart.
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