Peter Criss

After the demise of his band Lips, Criss placed an advertisement in the East Coast edition of Rolling Stone, which read:

Contrary to the story that has been recited by fans and the band for years, there was never an ad placed that said "Drummer willing to do anything to make it." The advertisement was answered by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, who were looking for new members for their band. Ace Frehley was added to the lineup in December 1972, and the band was named Kiss later that month. However, as Gene Simmons describes first meeting Criss in his book 'Kiss And Make-Up' "One afternoon I run across an ad in Rolling Stone that said "Drummer available - Will do anything." I called the guy on the telephone, and even though he was in the middle of a party, he took my call. I introduced myself and said we were starting a band and that the band was looking for a drummer, and was he willing to do anything to make it? He says that he was, right away." Simmons later in the chapter describes going to a small Italian Club in Brooklyn to meet the drummer "The drummer started to sing, and this Wilson Pickett-style voice came out of him. Paul and I said "That's it, that's our drummer." His name was Peter Criscuola." Peter also decided on the "Catman" makeup he would go on to make famous as a member of Kiss, stating on more than one occasion that he felt he had nine lives to survive his rough street upbringing in Brooklyn. Read Less

The group also supported Frehley's band on the 1995 "Bad Boys Tour." Read Less

Criss is the father of one daughter named Jenilee, born in 1981. Read Less