Posted on 05/30/2008 5:27:31 AM PDT by The_Victor
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a departure from her normally staid diplomatic duties, Rice met the legendary glam rock quartet when they happened to share a hotel in the Swedish capital. Rice was in Stockholm on Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out gig to play on Friday.
"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.
"It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons," she told reporters, noting they seemed well informed about current events. The band had asked if she could stop by after she finished dinner with the Swedish foreign minister and Rice readily agreed, she said.
Simmons and his crew, who are on a European tour, weren't wearing their trademark stage makeup, but were recognizable as rock stars to even non-fans by their hair, according to State Department officials who were with Rice.
Rice, a classically trained pianist, said she has eclectic musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to Bruce Springsteen. Hard stadium rockers like Kiss are included in the mix and Rice said her favorite tune of theirs is "Rock and Roll All Nite."
But, she conceded she had never seen the group in concert.
In fact, although she frequently attends classical music performances, Rice claims to have been to only four rock concerts in her life. The first was in the early 1960s when she went as a 10-year-old to see Paul Revere and the Raiders in her home state of Alabama.
After her family moved to Colorado, Rice went at the age of 16 went on her first date with an Air Force cadet to see Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. She later saw Earth, Wind and Fire in Denver and her last rock and roll show was a U2 concert in Washington, she said.
Poison was glam rock, Kiss was not even close. Is the writer 80 or 20?
For your 80’s and/or Metal Ping Lists!
What the $^@#$^ is glam rock??
Oh man! There simply MUST be a picture of this!
Never cared for KISS at all, but my hat’s off to Simmons for a clever book title.
Something buried not quite deep enough in the ash heap of music history.
if anyone has ever seen the Gene Simmons show, there is an episode where he visits San Diego and Ft Pendleton (spelling?) He visits the vets hospital and thanks vets for thier service. He’s down to earth and respects those that protects our freedoms so that his fantasy world is made possible.....in his own words. Much Respect for his respecting those who deserve it!
WTF? What happened to Ace Frehley and Peter Criss?! Too senile to Rock N' Roll? And since when is Gene the "Frontman?" Paul Stanley has always been the Frontman.
I was hit in the head by Gene Simmons’ pick at a concert. He threw it in the crowd and right between my eyes. Never forget it.
Gene has always been the attention getter.
Indeed! Where’s a pic?!!
My brother in law is a HUGE KISS fan (still) and oddly enough, is a fan of Ms. Rice, too. This would make his day.
And the pick is still there, embedded as a badge of honor, right?
Well ISN’T it?!? LOL
I gave it to a friend of mine who is a huge KISS fan.
That would be four too many.
The only Condi Rice has accomplished lately.
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