in 1972 gene simmons together with guitarist paul stanley are the band kiss, gene and paul join the band the musicians ace frehley on guitar and peter criss on drums and vocals. one of the characteristics of the band were his outlandish makeup and costumes. in 1973 kiss; paul stanley guitar and voice, gene simmons bass and voice, ace frehley in lead guitar released their first album kiss", gene composed the hit "strutter" with stanley, and "deuce" two of the biggest hits of the band. kiss recorded their second album hotter than hell, released in october 22, 1974. in 1975 the band released the third album dressed to kill, with the theme rock and roll all nite, the most successful of the band, written by simmons and stanley. gene with kiss, recorded with two of the best live albums "alive!" (1975) and "alive ii" (1977). in 1976 and 1977 he edited two of the best albums of the band "destroyer" released in march 15, 1976, and "love gun" released in june 30, 1977. gene simmons as the other members of kiss released the solo album "gene simmons" released for sale in 1978. in 1979 he recorded with kiss "dynasty" a disc-themed disco. after the album unmasked (1980), peter criss left the band, gene and paul chose eric carr replaced criss, in the drummer. in 1982 he joined the band the guitarist vinnie vincent in substitution for ace frehley. with the newly formed launch the album "creatures of the night", gene simmons composed the theme "i love it loud" one of the most powerful of kiss. in 1983 kiss appears without makeup on the cover of the album lick it up, the band had changed their style of hard rock for the heavy metal style. for 1984 released the album animalize, another powerful album of heavy metal. mark st. john as lead guitarist, was incorporated in replacing vinnie vincent. mark left the band in 1985 and was replaced by bruce kulick, who would maintain the lead guitar until 1997. in 1989 gene recorded with kiss one of their best album hot in the shade, with two of the best tracks from the band "hide your heart" and forever. in 1991 the premature death of eric carr forced to gene and paul to seek replacements, they chose a young drummer eric singer, who had worked with alice cooper. with singer on drums the band released the album "revenge" released in may 19, 1992, an album that recalled the band's early records. they also recorded the third live album alive iii (1993).