[Dana’s note: I saw this announcement live, and was pleasantly surprised that a New York rock band, will be honored.]
KISS, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, and English actor Michael Crawford will receive the Kennedy Center Honors at a President Donald Trump-hosted ceremony in Washington, DC, on December 8th.
This is the first Kennedy Center Honors since President Trump took over as chairman earlier this year. His first action was removing Biden-era appointees from the board.
The President announced the 2025 honorees as well as his plans to host a gala Wednesday at a press conference where he proclaimed, “…we’re restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. We have some unbelievable plans…”
…Regarding sone of the honorees, he said, [Stallone] is a very special guy. A real talent. Never been given the credit for the talent. There was nobody else that could have done the roles that he did like he did them. Not even close. They’ve tried, and they didn’t work out too well…”
Regarding Gaynor’s inclusion, the POTUS said, “I will say that I Will Survive is an unbelievable song.” He added that he was “98 percent involved” in the selection process for this year’s honorees…
…As for KISS, if all four original members of Kiss attend the ceremony in December, it’ll be the first time they’ve appeared together since their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2014.
[Dana’s note: The KISS picture, that was on display for the induction announcement, was of all four original members: Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Additionally, those were the only members, President Trump named, when announcing the honorees.]
4 Responses
RE Dana’s note: that’s right, there is only one Kiss…and they didn’t need the makeup or the costumes…if they walked in a room, you would feel something, and know it’s Kiss.
Was the song “Christine Sixteen” the basis for their induction?
when I was 10 years old I used to sleep with this AM radio under my pillow and listen to KFRC all night; it was a Bay Area station broadcasting in Napa, CA…and that song would come on and it was so heavy at the time with those guitars…this was before I could admit I liked Kiss; I thought then that they were a gimmick band and Alice had already done that, but secretly I loved that song.
If I had to venture a real guess, I would imagine, it is because they are a New York band.
Also, whether one likes, dislikes, or agrees with their many questionable business decisions, they certainly have a long legacy, in both music and merchandising. I think many other famous people, took cues from KISS, in regards of trying to market themselves, and make lots of money.
Just one example, off the top of my head, would be Jessica Simpson. She was one of the first pop singers, to not only star in a reality show, with her then husband, Nick Lachey, but have a clothing line, as well. Her clothing line, is reportedly worth, a billion dollars (yes, you read that right).
Today, most actors. singers and even radio, and TV hosts, have other businesses, whether it be clothing, alcohol (Sammy Hagar being one of the first), cosmetics, skin care, hair care, or a combination thereof, KISS seemed to the be at the tip of the spear, when it comes to, mass marketing.