Get out your hairspray and eyeliner… ’80s hair band favorites Def Leppard and leather-clad, makeup-wearing rock band Kiss announced the 2014 Heroes Tour today. The 42-city North American tour will start June 23 in West Valley City, Utah, and will wind down August 31 in Woodlands, Texas. The announcement was made at a press conference from the House of Blues that was streamed live on music website Live Nation.
Kiss is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first album Hotter Than H*ll, with the release of a two-disc box set, as well as a vinyl box set called Kiss 40 . Vinyl? Yes, once upon a time, long before CDs and digital downloads, music was sold on vinyl albums, with cover art that didn’t require use of a microscope to read. Kiss will also be celebrating their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, scheduled for April of 2014. Def Leppard is currently working on songs for a CD that is due for release in 2015.
Def Leppard’s lead singer Joe Elliott and Kiss front man Gene Simmons have been throwing around the idea of touring together for a few years. The two met while they were playing a rock and roll all start tour in South America, but the groups have never shared a stage. Neither Def Leppard or Kiss is the “opening” act — this is a true co-headline tour.
The two groups will be donating $1 from the sale of each ticket to the Wounded Warrior Project and other groups like the USO and Hire A Hero, which aid members of the military. Gene Simmons, always known to tell it like it is, had this to say about the reason for the philanthropic title of the tour as well as the donation.
“Politicians fart through their mouth. Only the military makes freedom possible.”
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen is likely happy to be on any tour. It was 29 years ago , on December 31, 1984, that Allen lost his left arm, and nearly lost his life. Allen and Def Leppard were on top of the world; one high-speed crash almost changed all that. With the help of his Def Leppard band mates, Allen lifted himself up, and worked up a custom drum kit that allowed him to play the drums with his feet. Def Leppard released Hysteria the following year, and never looked back. Allen and Def Leppard have been active in supporting Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, which Allen himself suffered after the crash that left him an amputee.
Tickets for most of the dates for Def Leppard and Kiss go on sale Friday.
