Overview
- President Donald Trump presented KISS with Kennedy Center Honor medals in an Oval Office ceremony on December 6, with Ace Frehley recognized posthumously.
- Dee Snider wrote on X that recipients should not wait for a preferred administration to accept the medals and called KISS worthy of the honor.
- Gene Simmons told CBS Mornings that Ace Frehley was “watching and proud,” while Paul Stanley credited the band’s original lineup as the foundation of KISS.
- Simmons previously faced backlash for telling the New York Times that “bad decisions” led to Frehley’s fatal fall and later apologized on X for his wording.
- KISS’s tribute features performances by Garth Brooks, Marcus King, and Cheap Trick, and the ceremony is scheduled to air December 23 on CBS.