Fans urge Kiss band to restore makeup, claiming unmasked band scarier.

By Our Entertainment Editor: Arthur Pint

NEW YORK CITY – Fans of legendary rock group Kiss have reportedly begun an unusual campaign urging the band to return to their famous stage makeup, claiming the musicians now look “considerably more frightening” without it.

The band—formed in 1973 by members including Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley—famously performed for years in elaborate face paint and theatrical costumes before dramatically revealing their natural faces in 1983 during the promotion of their album Lick It Up.

At the time, the unveiling was presented as a bold new chapter for the band. However, more than four decades later, some long-time followers now believe the experiment may have run its course.

“Back then the makeup made them look terrifying,” said lifelong fan Darren Holt, 58, from Doncaster. “But now they’ve taken it off, they somehow look even scarier. It’s like seeing the Phantom of the Opera after the mask comes off and thinking, actually the mask was doing everyone a favour.”

Kiss of death

Online petitions circulating among fan forums suggest the band should “strongly consider returning to full demon, star-child and spaceman protocol for public safety reasons.”

Concertgoer Melissa Ward, who recently attended a reunion show, said the experience had been unsettling. “Gene Simmons sticking his tongue out without the makeup is somehow more alarming,” she said. “He’s no oil painting.”

Music industry analysts say the proposal is not entirely unreasonable. The band’s face paint became one of the most recognizable visual trademarks in rock history, appearing on countless album covers, merchandise lines and lunchboxes.

A spokesperson for the group declined to comment directly on the suggestion but acknowledged that the makeup “remains an important part of the band’s mythology.”

For many fans, however, the issue is simple.

“The makeup made them look like monsters,” Holt said. “Now they just look like men who used to be monsters—and that’s much more unsettling.”