Kiss has sold their songs, brand name, and rights to Pophouse Entertainment Group as announced on Thursday.
Fortune reports that the Swedish company is paying the band over $300 million and intends to use similar technology for a Kiss avatar show in the US.
This isn’t the first time Kiss has worked with the company behind ABBA’s live avatar show. During the band’s farewell tour last December at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the members surprised fans by appearing as digital avatars at the end of the show.
The technology was made by George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, in collaboration with Pophouse. These companies also recently joined forces for the ‘ABBA Voyage’ concert in London.
Kiss’ Avatar Plans
Kiss’ plans for their avatars haven’t been revealed yet, but the CEO of Pophouse Per Sundin mentioned that fans can look forward to a biopic, a documentary, and an immersive Kiss experience in the near future.
The avatar show is set to debut in the latter part of 2027, but Sundin made it clear that it won’t resemble the ‘ABBA Voyage’ concept. The kickoff is expected to happen in North America.
Gene Simmons’ Thoughts On The Matter
Gene Simmons made it clear that the band would never sell their catalog to a company they didn’t appreciate:
“I don’t like the word acquisition. Collaboration is exactly what it’s about. It would be remiss in our inferred fiduciary duty — see what I just did there? — to the thing that we created to abandon it,” he continued. “People might misunderstand and think, ‘OK, now Pophouse is doing that stuff and we’re just in Beverly Hills twiddling our thumbs.’ No, that’s not true. We’re in the trenches with them. We talk all the time. We share ideas. It’s a collaboration. Paul (Stanley) and I especially, with the band, we’ll stay committed to this. It’s our baby.”
Now we can safely say that any doubts about Kiss retiring are gone with this deal, and the members might really be thinking of calling it quits this time.