In 1983, one of the most recognizable bands in rock music decided it was time to show the world what had been hiding underneath all that face paint.
On Sept. 18, 1983, KISS officially appeared in public without its famous makeup for the first time since the band’s earliest days, unveiling its dramatically different look during an appearance on MTV.
The reveal coincided with the release of the band’s new album Lick It Up and marked the beginning of an entirely new era for KISS.
Circa 1983, Portrait of the Rock group KISS, left to right; Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent, Eric Carr and Gene Simmons.Getty Images
For a group whose visual identity had become nearly as famous as its music, taking off the makeup was a significant gamble.
Since forming in New York City in 1973, KISS had built its image around the comic book-like personas adopted by its members. Paul Stanley became the Starchild, Gene Simmons was the Demon, Ace Frehley was the Spaceman and Peter Criss was the Catman.
The elaborate face paint went hand in hand with an equally theatrical stage show that included fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, pyrotechnics and levitating drum kits.
By the second half of the 1970s, KISS had become one of America’s biggest rock bands and a merchandising juggernaut. The group eventually amassed 30 Gold albums, more than any other American band, and the four original members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
But by the early 1980s, KISS was struggling commercially and undergoing major lineup changes.
Criss had departed and been replaced by Eric Carr, while Frehley was eventually replaced by Vinnie Vincent. Albums including Music from “The Elder” and Creatures of the Night failed to match the band’s enormous success of the previous decade.
With KISS looking for a fresh start, the band made the radical decision to abandon the makeup and costumes that had defined it for a decade.
The world finally got its first official look at the new KISS on MTV on Sept. 18, 1983, with Stanley, Simmons, Carr and Vincent appearing without their familiar face paint.
The gamble helped usher in a commercial resurgence.
Lick It Up became KISS’ first Gold album in three years, while the band’s increasingly important presence on MTV helped introduce the rockers to another generation of listeners. The following year’s Animalize continued that momentum and became the band’s bestselling American album of the decade.
And the makeup didn’t come back quickly.
KISS remained unmasked throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the 1990s, with Stanley and Simmons continuing alongside changing bandmates.
Then, in 1996, the band pulled off essentially the reverse of its 1983 transformation.
Stanley, Simmons, Frehley and Criss reunited as the original KISS lineup and returned to the makeup and elaborate stage costumes that had made them instantly recognizable two decades earlier.
The resulting reunion tour became a massive success, bringing KISS’ famous painted faces back to arenas around the world.
But for 13 years, beginning with one memorable MTV appearance 43 years ago today, the world got to see KISS without the masks.
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