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Kiss to Receive Kennedy Center Honors From President Donald Trump
UltimateClassicRock ^ | August 13, 2025 | Matthew Wilkening

Posted on 08/13/2025 11:18:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway

Kiss have been selected to receive the Kennedy Center Honors, and will be presented the award by President Donald Trump, who will host the ceremony on Dec. 8.

"We'll be honoring one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Kiss," Trump said while announcing this year's class of honorees - which also includes George Strait, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Crawford and Gloria Gaynor.

The Kennedy Center honors are designed to reward individuals who have made significant contributions to American culture through the performing arts.

After unveiling a photo of Kiss at the announcement ceremony, the President praised all four original members of the band - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley - as "incredible" and hard working people.

He then ran through a list of their accomplishments: "Kiss became a global phenomenon, sold more than 100 million records worldwide and produced 30 gold albums and lots of other things they produced, they made a fortune."

Trump also stated that Kiss would do "something special" to commemorate the occasion: "They're going to do something very special, Kiss is gonna be here on, a little bit before the show I think, they're going to do something special, we're going to have a great time."

Soon after the announcement, radio host Eddie Trunk tweeted that he had been told by "a very reliable source" that only the four original members Trump named would receive the honors, and that they had all agreed to attend, but not perform together at the event.

As Deadline notes, Trump has previously criticized the Kennedy Center as "woke" and its honoree selections as "radical left lunatics." He fired his predecessor Joe Biden's nominees to the organization's board, which resulted in Trump himself being appointed as the Kennedy Center chairman.

Last year's class of Kennedy Center honorees included director Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and the Apollo Theater.

So as you likely just learned @realDonaldTrump has nominated @kiss for @KCHonors . I have been told by a very reliable source involved it is original band only and all have agreed to attend. So we will have all 4 in the same room once again! They do not play. More TBA.

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) August 13, 2025

Let’s congratulate Paul, Gene, Ace and Peter for the announcement of being chosen for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors later this year! WOW. President Trump said KISS will be doing something special. That’s a big tease for all of us right? @kiss pic.twitter.com/4oPuSmjmUK

— Bruce Kulick (@brucekulick) August 13, 2025


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: donaldtrump; kennedycenter; kennedycenterhonors; kiss; music; threadmovedagain; yuck

1 posted on 08/13/2025 11:18:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The rest I can see. But Gloria Gaynor?


2 posted on 08/13/2025 11:26:09 AM PDT by GrootheWanderer
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To: GrootheWanderer

You prefer Janet Gaynor?


3 posted on 08/13/2025 11:27:12 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I’m not sure that I’d put Kiss in the “among the greatest rock bands” but it would sure be fun to see Trump in Gene Simmons makeup.


4 posted on 08/13/2025 11:28:21 AM PDT by Tucsonican
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To: Tucsonican

They certainly had the best marketing, though.


5 posted on 08/13/2025 11:28:56 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

These are good picks who will not get out of line or be disrespectful.


6 posted on 08/13/2025 11:29:14 AM PDT by sam_whiskey (Peace through Strength. )
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To: GrootheWanderer

It’s a Kennedy Center Honor, she’s won two Grammy’s I believe.


7 posted on 08/13/2025 11:29:36 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Tucsonican

And they are both the same height.


8 posted on 08/13/2025 11:29:42 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
Not a KISS fan. Very popular in High School, but I was still listening to Allman Brothers and the like.

Considered KISS a band of homos.

9 posted on 08/13/2025 11:32:35 AM PDT by Psalm 73 ("You'll never hear surf music again" - J. Hendrix)
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To: Psalm 73

I remember people saying KISS was an acronym for Kids In Satan’s Service.


10 posted on 08/13/2025 11:34:57 AM PDT by posterchild
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To: nickcarraway

Whether you’re a fan or not, this is a cool story.

“KISSed in Cadillac” is the remarkable true story of how the legendary rock band KISS made an unforgettable visit to a small town in Michigan in 1975. What started as a unique idea to boost school spirit turned into a historic homecoming show that left a lasting impact on the town of Cadillac.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnZOtEbK-Tc


11 posted on 08/13/2025 11:35:50 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway
The late Eric Carr was the second drummer for KISS, after Peter Criss.

Interestingly, there's a guy named Eric Carr who's a pretty darn good drummer. He marched with Carolina Crown (which didn't even exist in my Drum Corps days), and "The Commandant's Own" Marine Drum & Bugle Corps.

He has a pretty cool YouTube channel.

12 posted on 08/13/2025 11:39:09 AM PDT by real saxophonist (Michael Bennet claps on 1 and 3.)
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To: Psalm 73
Then you must have really liked:



Angel was the white (vs. black) version of Kiss, discovered by Gene Simmons.


Jobriathm, the first gay rock star.


[These were before my time, but I read about them.]

13 posted on 08/13/2025 11:41:36 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: GrootheWanderer

The rest I can see. But Gloria Gaynor?

><

And why not? I look forward to your answer.


14 posted on 08/13/2025 11:53:09 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: dfwgator

While Gene Simmons hasn’t explicitly called KISS a “bad band,” he has been very open about the fact that the band’s focus was more on the live experience and entertainment than on creating consistently great albums. He’s acknowledged that Kiss never spent enough time in the studio and has even called one album “dishonest”. He also mentioned that the band, in his view, was meant to be a spectacle and not necessarily high art.


15 posted on 08/13/2025 12:03:50 PM PDT by lombardwarrior2
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To: GrootheWanderer

She will survive!


16 posted on 08/13/2025 12:11:04 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: GrootheWanderer

You’ll survive


17 posted on 08/13/2025 12:22:25 PM PDT by bigbob (If thou doth eff around, thou wilt findeth out)
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To: nickcarraway

Kiss — What clowns and buffoons. Me no like.


18 posted on 08/13/2025 12:31:58 PM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity)
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To: GrootheWanderer

We’ll never see you on the list. You can’t even answer a question. CS.


19 posted on 08/13/2025 12:58:15 PM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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