Who is Peter Criss? See Net-worth, Quote, Awards, Fact, Wiki

Peter Criss Wiki Biography

George Peter John Criscuola was born on the 20th December 1945, in Brooklyn, New York City, USA of Italian American descent. He is a musician well known under the name of Peter Criss who was one of the founders, and drummer and vocalist of the legendary music group Kiss. In the hard rock band, Criss was also known as The Catman. As a member of Kiss he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Peter Criss has also added to his net worth as a solo artist and actor. He has been active in the entertainment industry since 1964.

How much is Peter Criss net worth? It has been estimated that the overall size of his net worth is as much as $2 million, accumulated during his lengthy career in the music industry.

Peter Criss Net Worth $2 Million

Peter grew up together with his four siblings in the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn, New York. He shared his passion of playing the drums with a friend, Jerry Nolan, who became the successful drummer of the New York Dolls band. Criss played in a number of bands including Chelsea and Lips in 1960s. In the early 1970s he became a founding member of the band Kiss; Paul Stanley took the position of vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Ace Frehley – leading guitarist, Gene Simmons – vocalist, bass guitarist and Peter Criss – drummer, percussionist and vocalist. Their debut album “Kiss” (1974) was successful with gold certifications received in USA and Canada. It should be noted that Criss served as a lead vocalist on various hits, including “Black Diamond” (1974), “Hard Luck Woman” (1976) and “Beth” (1976) which was certified gold. During the decade of the 1970s, the band released many studio albums including the gold ones “Hotter Than Hell” (1974), “Dressed to Kill” (1975), “Alive!” (1975) and “Double Platinum” (1978); platinum ones “Rock and Roll Over” (1976) and “Love Gun” (1977); and two multi-platinum studio albums “Destroyer” (1976) and “Alive” (1977). Unfortunately, Peter suffered a serious injury from a car crash in 1978, and could not participate in the active life of the band, and as the result was voted out.

Officially, he left the hard rock band in 1980 and immediately pursued a solo career. His debut solo album entitled “Peter Criss” (1978) entered the album charts in Canada and USA, as well as receiving respectively gold and platinum certifications for sales. Later, he successfully continued his solo career with other studio albums, “Out of Control” (1980), “Let Me Rock You” (1982), “Cat #1” (1994) and “One for All” (2007). These recordings added significantly to Peter’s net worth.

It should be mentioned that Peter Criss returned to the Kiss band in 1995 and left again in 2001, and then rejoined the band for the third time in 2002 though he left in 2004. Because of many disagreements and frustration he could not be a permanent part of the band, nevertheless Kiss added much financially to the net worth of Peter Criss.

Additionally, as an actor Criss appeared in the television series “Millennium” (1998) and “Oz” (2002). He landed a role in the feature films “Detroit Rock City” (1999) directed by Adam Rifkin and “Frame of Mind” (2009) directed by Chris Noth. Criss and Larry Sloman wrote the autobiography of the artist entitled “Make-up to Break-up: My Life In and Out of Kiss” (2012). All the above mentioned engagements also increased the net worth of Peter Criss.

In his personal life, Peter Criss has been married three times, to Lydia Di Leonardo (1970 – 1979), Debra Jensen (1979 – 1994) with whom he has a daughter, and Gigi Criss (1998 – present).



Full Name Peter Criss
Net Worth $2 Million
Date Of Birth December 20, 1945
Place Of Birth Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.75 m)
Profession Drummer, Musician, Songwriter, Record producer
Nationality United States of America
Spouse Gigi Criss (m. 1998), Debra Jensen (m. 1979–1994), Lydia Di Leonardo (m. 1970–1979)
Parents Loretta Criscuola, Joseph Criscuola, I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Rock and Roll All Nite, Beth
Nicknames Criss, Peter
IMDB www.imdb.com/name/nm0188028
Albums “Peter Criss” (1978), “Out of Control” (1980), “Let Me Rock You” (1982), “Cat #1” (1994), “One for All” (2007), “Hotter Than Hell” (1974), “Dressed to Kill” (1975), “Alive!” (1975), “Double Platinum” (1978), “Rock and Roll Over” (1976), “Love Gun” (1977), “Destroyer” (1976), “Alive” (1977)
Music Groups Kiss, Wicked Lester, Chelsea
Movies “Millennium” (1998), “Oz” (2002), “Detroit Rock City” (1999, “Frame of Mind” (2009)
Trademark
1 Catman makeup
Quote
1 I find myself evil. I believe in the devil as much as God. You can use either one to get things done.
Fact
1 K.I.S.S. was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
2 The song “Beth” was actually inspired by Rebecca; the girlfriend of a former band member. Originally, the song was titled “Beck”. The song was released in 1976.
3 April 7, 1981 daughter Jenilee, was born.
4 First wife Lydia was his inspiration for KISS’ 1975 Top 10 hit “Beth”, which he wrote and sang lead on.
5 Is ‘Cat Man’ In The Hard Rock Band, KISS
6 According to a statement on his website, he is now permanently out of KISS. His contract was not renewed and Gene Simmons allegedly made some slanderous comments, which angered him. [April 2004]
7 Played in such bands as The Barracudas, Chelsea (which released an album in 1969) and Lips before becoming the drummer for KISS in 1973.
8 Plans to focus on big-band jazz music in his post-KISS career.
9 Drummer for KISS from 1973-1980 and 1995-2000. Has rejoined the group for a second time for their 2003 tour with Aerosmith.
10 Successfully sued the National Enquirer in 1995 for falsely reporting that he was a homeless drunk living on the beach. The person featured in the Enquirer article was actually an impersonator named Chris Dickinson, whom Peter met on the ‘Donahue’ show in February 1991.
11 Member of the rock band KISS.

Soundtrack

Title Year Status Character
Metal Evolution 2011-2012 TV Series documentary writer – 2 episodes
Glee Encore 2011 Video writer: “Beth”
Somewhere 2010 writer: “Love Theme From Kiss”
Glee 2010 TV Series writer – 1 episode
I Love You, Beth Cooper 2009 writer: “Beth”
American Idol 2009 TV Series writer – 1 episode
Role Models 2008 writer: “Beth”
KISSology: The Ultimate KISS Collection Vol. 2 1978-1991 2007 Video documentary writer: “Beth”
Wet Hot American Summer 2001 writer: “Beth”
Detroit Rock City 1999 writer: “Beth”
KISS Live: The Ultimate Halloween Party 1998 TV Movie writer: “Beth”
Beautiful Girls 1996 writer: “Beth”
Unplugged 1995 TV Series documentary writer – 1 episode
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special 1976 TV Special performer: “Beth” – uncredited / writer: “Beth” – uncredited

Actor

Title Year Status Character
Frame of Mind 2009 Mike
KISSology: The Ultimate KISS Collection Vol. 3 1992-2000 2007 Video Peter Criss
Oz 2002 TV Series Martin Montgomery
Family Guy 2001 TV Series Peter Criss
Detroit Rock City 1999 KISS
Millennium 1998 TV Series Nice Cop
Action League Now!!: Rock-A-Big-Baby 1997 Short Peter Criss (voice)
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park 1978 TV Movie Cat Man

Composer

Title Year Status Character
Kiss: Beyond the Makeup 2001 TV Movie documentary
Kiss: The Last Kiss 2000 TV Movie

Self

Title Year Status Character
Finding Sandler 2016 Documentary post-production Himself
You Wanted the Best… You Got the Best: The Official Kiss Movie 2016 Documentary Himself
That Metal Show 2009-2014 TV Series Himself / Himself – Guest
Metal Evolution 2011-2012 TV Series documentary Himself
American Idol 2009 TV Series
Fantástico 2009 TV Series documentary Himself
KISSology: The Ultimate KISS Collection Vol. 2 1978-1991 2007 Video documentary Himself
KISSology: The Ultimate KISS Collection 2006 Video documentary Himself
Long Island Music Hall of Fame’s 1st Induction Awards Gala 2006 TV Movie Himself
Kiss Symphony 2003 Video documentary
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2003 Video Game Himself (uncredited)
Kiss: Beyond the Makeup 2001 TV Movie documentary Himself
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy 2001 Documentary Himself (uncredited)
Kiss: The Last Kiss 2000 TV Movie Himself
Power Vision – Pop Galerie 2000 TV Series documentary Himself
Miscellaneous Shit: Behind the Scenes of ‘Detroit Rock City’ 1999 Video documentary short Himself
WCW Monday Nitro 1999 TV Series Himself
Kiss: The Second Coming 1998 Video Himself
MADtv 1998 TV Series Himself
Kiss Psycho Circus 1998 Video short Himself
KaBlam! 1997 TV Series Himself (segment “Action League Now!”)
MTV Video Music Awards 1996 1996 TV Special Himself
The Anti Gravity Room 1995 TV Series Himself
Unplugged 1995 TV Series documentary Himself
KISS My A**: The Video 1994 Video documentary Cat Man
Kiss: X-treme Close-Up 1992 Video Himself / the Catman
The Midnight Special 1975 TV Series Himself – Musician

Archive Footage

Title Year Status Character
Provokation 2015 Documentary short Himself
End Game: Making ‘Millennium’ Season Three 2004 Video documentary short Nice Cop (uncredited)
Kiss Loves You 2004 Documentary
Tupac: Resurrection 2003 Documentary Himself
KISS: eXposed 1987 Video documentary Himself / The Catman

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