KISS Nominated For ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction

According to The New York Times, KISS is among a dozen finalists for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. After being snubbed for years — the band has been eligible for the honor since 1999 — KISS has finally been nominated, along with ABBA, DONNA SUMMER, GENESIS, THE STOOGES, THE HOLLIES and, in the first year in which they qualify, LL COOL J and the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, the organization has announced. JIMMY CLIFF, DARLENE LOVE, LAURA NYRO and THE CHANTELS are also on the ballot, and votes will be cast by a group of more than 500 musicians and industry professionals; of the 12 nominees, the five that get the most votes will be announced in January and inducted into the Hall of Fame at its 25th annual ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan.

The Foundation determines which members of a band are inducted into the Hall, and the ballot lists the four founding members of KISS, including Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

According to Billboard.com, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley recently noted that a Rock Hall induction would cause he and his longtime KISS partner Gene Simmons to consider which of the group's members they'd like to have enter with them.

"There's been a lot of people who've been a part of this, some longer than others..and some who deserve recognition more than others," Stanley explained. "Even the non-makeup years produced some platinum and double-platinum albums, and we had some very healthy sales in terms of albums and concerts through the '80s and '90s. So if we should ever be asked to accept induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, it would be something to think about."

Acts become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record.

During a keynote address at the Billboard Touring Conference in November 2008, Simmons expressed his discontent with the fact that the band, which he co-founded in 1972, had not yet been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. "A lot of those guys on the board can go and get my sandwich when I want, and I mean that in the nicest way," he said. "There are disco bands, rap bands, Yiddish folk song bands in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but not KISS. I believe we have more gold records in America than any other group, but it's OK."

Speaking to The Baltimore Sun in 2006, Stanley echoed Simmons' sentiments, stating, "Honestly, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is a joke, and it always has been. I think they should be ashamed and embarrassed by some of the people that they've inducted. It's a popularity contest for a small group of judges or whatever they want to call themselves. They induct bands that they like that have sold less albums in their careers than I've sold in a week, and that have influenced a handful compared to what KISS has done. KISS is a virus that has infected music from rock to country and back. So if they choose not to induct us, I'm not sure it's a club I want to be a member of."

(Thanks: The Metal Den)