Vinnie Vincent, who rose to fame thanks to his brief stint in KISS, could be set to make a return to music according to new trademark application documents.
Back in 1982, KISS went through a bit of a rough patch which saw them lose founding guitarist Ace Frehley. After becoming frustrated with the direction that the band was heading in, Frehley left the group, only to be replaced by Vinnie Vincent.
As it turned out, Vinnie Vincent – whose real name is Vincent Cusano – would only hang around for a couple of years, but he happened to be a member of the group in 1983 when they decided to go kick off their unmasking period and begin to appear onstage without makeup.
However, after rising tensions between Vinnie Vincent and KISS’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Vincent left the group, only to be replaced by temporary member Mark St. John. Now, 34 years after his departure from the group, it appears that Vinnie Vincent could be set to launch his own musical tribute to the group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_bHmlA16AI
While Vinnie Vincent performed with a number of bands and artists in the years following KISS, he effectively retired from music in 1997, until January of this year, when he appeared onstage with Gene Simmons at the Atlanta KISS Expo, and later with Simmons for his Vault Experience.
However, as Blabbermouth reports, Vinnie Vincent has recently filed two applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for something called ‘Vinnie Vincent’s Kiss’.
If this application is successful, it will protect the usage of this name for services including “live performances by internationally known musical artist and guitarist Vinnie Vincent,” as well as other goods and services including physical music.
While not much is know about what ‘Vinnie Vincent’s Kiss’ not only is, but would entail, the musician did announce his return to music earlier this year, with a special acoustic performance taking place in December. The performance is set to feature Vincent performing tracks from his time in KISS and his former band, Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
Of course, the idea of filing for future trademarks isn’t a foreign concept to the members of KISS, with Gene Simmons applying to trademark everything from the devil horns hand symbol to the notion of a naked carwash.
However, earlier this year, the group filed an application for something called ‘The End Of The Road’. While many people theorised it was a farewell tour of some variety, the news was all but confirmed a few months later when Simmons confirmed the group would be embarking on a farewell tour in 2019.
“There will be [a farewell tour] at some point,” Simmons confirmed. “We can’t keep doing this forever.”
“We are the hardest-working band in show business. If [Mick] Jagger stepped into my Dragon Boots he couldn’t last a half hour.”
While the information is currently pretty sparse, there’s no way to tell if ‘Vinnie Vincent’s Kiss’ might end up teaming up with the real KISS at some point on their eventual farewell tour. Only time will tell.
Check out Vinnie Vincent on KISS’ ‘Lick It Up’:
Gene Simmons Australian Tour 2018
Tuesday, August 28th
Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Thursday, August 30th
Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Friday, August 31st
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Saturday, September 1st
Tivoli Centre, Brisbane, QLD
