Skip to search.

Ex-Kiss drummer raising money for cancer research

AP, Sep 17, 2010 11:00 am PDT
Three years after beating breast cancer — a disease that rarely affects men — former Kiss drummer Peter Criss wants guys to know it can happen to them, too.

The rock star best known for the ballad "Beth" is participating in a walkathon for the American Cancer Society next month near his home at the Jersey Shore. He wants fans to sponsor him or join the walk themselves.

Criss, who played the Catman with the costumed rockers, asks supporters to register through his website, http://www.petercriss.net.

The Oct. 17 event in Point Pleasant Beach already has raised more than $108,000 for the fight against breast cancer.

The 64-year-old says he's cancer-free and emphasizes there should be no stigma or embarrassment attached to getting the disease as a man.

"It's not an embarrassing thing — it's a very important, major thing," he said. "You find something wrong, you have to go to see a doctor immediately. It's not going to go away.

"I was this rock hero — I had dolls made of me!" Criss said. "I never thought I could catch anything. And then there it was."

Men account for 1 percent of all breast cancer cases, but about 2,000 men develop it each year, and 440 die from it, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The walk begins at 10 a.m. at Ocean and Arnold avenues, rain or shine.

Follow Yahoo! Music:

More Artist News

Gene Simmons and longtime girlfriend marry

Oct 2, 2011 1:09 am PDT

Rocker Gene Simmons and his longtime girlfriend, actress Shannon Tweed, have tied the knot. Publicist Dawn Miller offered her congratulations to "the new married couple" on Facebook. Simmons and...

Kiss bassist undeterred by Jerusalem bombing

Mar 25, 2011 11:19 am PDT

The legendary Kiss bassist Gene Simmons says that watching Jerusalem go through a deadly bombing this week has not changed his belief that Jews and Arabs can live in peace. The Israeli-born...

KISS hits the road, betting on spectacle and classic hits

Jul 23, 2010 10:00 am PDT

As the concert business struggles with top-name cancellations this summer, KISS hits the road in North America, betting that its spectacle of classic rock, pyrotechnics and fire-breathing will lure...

Correction: Kiss manager Aucoin obituary

Jul 1, 2010 11:00 am PDT

In a June 28 obituary of Kiss rock group manager Bill Aucoin, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Aucoin discovered the band. Lew Linet said he was the group's first manager. Aucoin...

Aucoin, manager who discovered Kiss, dies at 66

Jun 28, 2010 1:00 pm PDT

Bill Aucoin, who discovered the rock group Kiss and helped build them into a musical and merchandising juggernaut, died Monday in Florida. He was 66. Aucoin died at Aventura Hospital and Medical...