Dimensions
153 x 234 x 29mm
This is the thrilling, candid and sometimes scathing account of one of the most successful and iconic rock bands of all time. It's the story of a Brooklyn kid, born in 1945, who conquered the world and faced the perils of excess and his own mortality, including heavy drug abuse, near-suicides, two broken marriages, and a hard-won battle with cancer. Peter opens up with a level of candour and emotion rarely seen in a rock memoir.
Peter Criss co-founded KISS in 1973 along with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley. Peter was the heartbeat of KISS throughout the band's phenomenally successful run from 1973 to 1979. From his perch behind the drums, he had the unique vantage point on the greatest rock'n' roll show of all time. There was the Demon, Gene Simmons, breathing fire, spewing blood and flicking out his abnormally long tongue while pounding his bass on one side of the stage. The Starchild, Paul Stanley, would be flying through the air when he wasn't slapping his ass and strutting across the stage in his seven-inch platform boots. And then there was Ace Frehley, the Spaceman, playing celestial guitar solos so hot that his axe literally caught fire. Peter was also the composer and singer of "Beth", KISS's highest charting single ever.
Makeup to Breakup is co-written with the celebrated Larry "Ratso" Sloman who also wrote Anthony Kiedis's mega-seller SCAR TISSUE, which is one of the biggest backlist successes for a rock memoir in the past decade in publishing history.
Sex, drugs and rock'n roll have rarely been exploited the way KISS did it in the 1970s. It's been chronicled multiple times but never like this. Peter left the band in 1979, embarking on a solo career. In 1995, he reunited with KISS, resulting in a phenomenally successful world tour before he left the band again in 2004. Criss appeared in the HBO series Oz in 2002 and he continues ot write and record music. His most recent solo album, 2007's One For All, reached #36 on the Billboard Top Independent Album list.
Makeup to Breakup is the book all KISS fans and readers of rock'n roll memoir have been waiting for.
