Fans at the Detroit stop of Kiss‘ 1995 Worldwide Convention tour got an unexpected (un-X-pected?) treat when a 10-year-old fan took over on lead vocals for a joyous take on the band’s particularly horny 1988 single “Let’s Put the X in Sex.”
As a clearly delighted Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer back her up, the young girl eagerly tackles the song’s risque lyrics, pumping her bicep every time she hits the “Love’s like a muscle and you make me wanna flex” part of the chorus. The crowd roars with approval at her confident delivery, rewarding her with a standing ovation at the end. (Her name is not mentioned in the video, although SImmons states her age at the conclusion of the song.)
The 1995 conventions helped Kiss reconnect with their history, after they spent much of the ’80s and early ’90s successfully establishing themselves separately from their facepaint-wearing ’70s days. The events featured memorabilia displays, question and answer sessions, and an acoustic performance from the band.
“The experience of doing them really opened up our eyes to the living, breathing thing that we had created above and beyond the records and songs,” Simmons explained in his book Kiss and Make-Up. “Children were named after our songs. We would meet them. ‘Hi, I’m Christine. I can’t wait to turn sixteen so I can become Christine Sixteen.’ And they’d giggle. ‘Meet my daughter Beth.'”
The convention tour’s Los Angeles-area show also kick-started the reunion of the original Kiss lineup, as the band invited Peter Criss to join them for a couple of songs during their performance. This led to Criss and founding lead guitarist Ace Frehley joining them for several songs at the taping of their MTV Unplugged show, which in turn lit the fuse for the band’s 1996 original lineup, full makeup and costume reunion tour.
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30 years after the 1995 conventions, Kiss are revisiting the idea with the Kiss Army Storms Vegas event, which takes place Nov. 14 through 16 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The band will perform a special “unmasked” show – their first time on stage since concluding their farewell tour in 2023. The event will feature other guest stars and band-themed activities.
Just for context, if this young girl reunites with Kiss to perform the song again in Vegas, she’ll be doing so as a 40-year-old woman.
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening