Kiss and Def Leppard Chart Summer Tour

Two months after entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Kiss will begin celebrating their 40th anniversary with a co-headlining trek with Def Leppard. The bands have not shared a bill with one another before, but beginning in late June, the hard rockers will be weaving circles across the United States, going from Utah to Texas with gigs on each coast. Tickets for the concerts go on sale March 21st or March 22nd, depending on the venue.

Kiss’ Long Road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Photos

Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott told USA Today that he had first discussed the idea of touring with Kiss with Gene Simmons when the two musicians played together as part of the Rock ‘N’ Roll All Stars – a supergroup that also contained current and former members of Guns N’ Roses, the Cult, Alice in Chains and more and toured Latin and South America last year. “It’s finally happened, which is fantastic,” Elliott said.

“We’ve run into each other at festivals,” Kiss vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley said, explaining the team-up. “It just seemed to be a natural fit.”

To help celebrate their anniversary, Kiss has planned a series of 180-gram vinyl reissues of their catalog. The first batch – 10 records, including their first four LPs and celebrated Alive! Live record, among others – will hit record stores on April 1st. Two more batches will arrive in May, including the first vinyl pressings of Psycho Circus and a “concept album sequence” edition of Music From the Elder. The final collection will come out on June 24th and include Alive II and each member’s Seventies solo album.

The group is also putting out a two-CD compilation, Kiss 40, which includes a track from every one of their releases comprising some of their greatest hits, demo and live recordings and previously unreleased tracks. It’s also putting out Kissteria – The Vinyl Road Case, a set limited to 1,000 copies that collects 34 LPs with interlocking posters, a vinyl cleaning cloth, dominos and other sundry pieces of Kiss merchandise.

Def Leppard, for their part, told USA Today that they have been writing new music. “We all camped out at my house last month and wrote songs, which you will hear none of this summer,” Elliott said. Guitarist Phil Collen estimated a new album would come out next year.

Here are Kiss and Def Leppard’s joint tour dates:

6/23 West Valley City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
6/25 Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
6/27 Ridgefield, WA – Sleep Country Amphitheater
6/29 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
7/2 Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion
7/3 Wheatland, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
7/5 Irvine, CA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
7/6 Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
7/8 Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
7/9 Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
7/12 Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater
7/13 Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
7/15 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
7/16 Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
7/18 Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
7/19 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
7/20 Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
7/22 West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre
7/23 Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
7/25 Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
7/26 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
8/1 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
8/2 Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall
8/3 Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
8/5 Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8/6 Wantagh, NY – Nikon At Jones Beach Theatre
8/8 Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
8/9 Scranton, PA – Pavilion at Montage Mountain
8/10 Hartford, CT – Xfinity Theatre
8/12 Toronto, ON – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/13 Darien, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
8/15 East Troy, WI – Alpine Valley Music Theatre
8/16 Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
8/17 Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
8/20 Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
8/22 Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
8/23 Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/24 Burgettstown, PA – First Niagara Pavilion
8/26 Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
8/28 Maryland Heights, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
8/29 Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
8/31 Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion