This summer, by the time all of the airborne, neon body paint residue has settled from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where hundreds of thousands of ravers will have made the annual pilgrimage to the Electric Daisy Carnival electronic music festival, another giant music event will take over Las Vegas for an entirely different crowd. This week, the Daily Express reported that legendary rock groups, KISS and Def Leppard, may be teaming up for a summer U.S. tour that will include a stop in Las Vegas.

The speculation came after Def Leppard guitarist, Vivian Campbell gave an interview with TicketsThere.com, where he was asked about rumors of a 2014 tour with both KISS and Poison. “I’d say you’d be half right there, but only half right and half wrong (laughs),” Campbell told the interviewer. “There will be an announcement of our tour imminently, we’re talking a matter of days. It has to be announced because we’re almost at summertime.”

News of the possible, joint tour came just days before outspoken KISS frontman, Gene Simmons, gave a controversial interview to Radio.com, where he addressed some of the issues surrounding last year’s news that KISS would finally be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the interview, Simmons expressed that non-rock acts such as Donna Summer, Madonna, Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C. shouldn’t be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “They can run their organization any way they’d like, but it ain’t rock!” said Simmons. “It just isn’t! If you don’t play guitar and you don’t write your own songs, you don’t belong there.”

The fully-assembled KISS will make its return to Las Vegas two years after the band’s August 2012 concert with Motley Crue at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Events Center. KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, however, returned to Las Vegas only two months after the 2012 show to debut their KISS slot machine at that October’s Global Gaming Expo inside of the Sands Expo and Convention Center. In an article titled, “17 Things You Didn’t Know About Vegas,” PartyPoker wrote on its blog that there are 194,000 slot machines in Las Vegas. Over the past few years, slot machine developers have received endorsements from highly recognizable musicians such as KISS, the Beach Boys, Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson. Last year, a Palm Beach Post article called the celebrity endorsements “the hot new way to attract eyeballs—and players.”

Even more recently, Simmons made a cameo appearance on the crime drama television series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in which he played himself in the episode, “Long Road Home.” His first return to the small screen since the reality television series, Family Jewels, finds the legendary bassist playing the role of the accused murderer of of a KISS groupie.

About the Editor

Formerly an editor at Demand Media, writer at Citysearch, The Examiner and proofreader at The Los Angeles Daily News, Christy Buena decided to start Disarray Magazine because she missed writing what she wanted. From hiring writers, to contacting publicists and making assignments, Christy is responsible for the editorial strategy of Disarray Magazine. Get to know the team of talented contributors.