Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 makeup period. Vincent was the last member to wear a unique makeup/costume configuration, as the character of The Ankh Warrior (a design created by

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

), until he and the band were first shown without the makeup during an interview on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in September 1983. He founded his own band,

Vinnie Vincent Invasion Vinnie Vincent Invasion was an American glam metal band, formed in 1984 by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent. History Forming the band in 1984, Vinnie Vincent recruited bassist Dana Strum, who had served as a talent scout in L.A., recruiti ...

, which had minor hits.

Early life

Vincent John Cusano was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Theresa "Terri" (Ferraro) and Alfonso Cusano, musicians. Both of his parents were of Italian descent. He picked up the guitar at an early age and was inspired by bluegrass and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

. Cusano's first introduction to working with internationally renowned artists was working with Felix Cavaliere (mostly widely known from The Rascals and their hit " Good Lovin' ⁠") as part of the band "Treasure". This resulted in an album of the same name being released on Epic Records in 1977. It was recorded in New York City at Sound Ideas recording studios In 1980, Vincent moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he became a staff songwriter for the television series ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'' and '' Joanie Loves Chachi''. Many of the series songs were written on Vincent's

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

while sitting at the Cunninghams' kitchen table on the ''Happy Days'' set, during off-time from the show's rehearsal schedule. Vincent has said the times of working at the Paramount lot were genuinely "happy days". According to the site "Kiss Related Recordings", Vincent has played with Dan Hartman as well as the bands Hunter, Warrior, Hitchhikers and Heat going as far back as 1970.

Career

Kiss

After being introduced to the band by songwriter Adam Mitchell, Vincent was brought in as the replacement for guitarist

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

. Vincent's personality meshed well with

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

and

, thus enabling him to play lead guitar on six of the nine tracks on the ''

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memo ...

'' album as well as co-writing three. After a commercially disappointing Creatures of the Night/Tenth Anniversary tour, that finished on a high at what ended up being the "last" makeup show (and Kiss' largest crowd attendance) at Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, Vincent returned to the studio with Kiss to record the ''

Lick It Up ''Lick It Up'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kiss. Before its 1983 release, the band members appeared on MTV without their trademark make-up. It was the first public appearance without make-up by the band, and their first f ...

'' album. His work was productive, yielding eight co-writes out of the ten songs on the album (a record for any member until

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John ...

's nine out of 12 on ''

Carnival of Souls ''Carnival of Souls'' is a 1962 American independent horror film produced and directed by Herk Harvey and written by John Clifford from a story by Clifford and Harvey, and starring Candace Hilligoss. Its plot follows Mary Henry, a young wo ...

'' and Stanley's 10 out of 13 on ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

''). Though contributing to ''Creatures of the Night'' as a session player before being named as Frehley's replacement in December 1982, Vincent, for all the public knew, was the official guitarist in Kiss and played all the lead guitar tracks on ''Lick it Up''. In what was a frequent occurrence for former guitarist Frehley, a "ghost player" was asked to play on the album, with Rick Derringer recording the solo on the opening track. Though Vincent performed well live with Kiss, he refused to sign an employment contract which strained the relationship with Simmons/Stanley. This arose because of disputes over his role in the band and pay (some reports indicated that Vincent had asked for, and was flatly denied, a percentage of the band's gross profits). Consequently, Vincent never formally became a member of the band. This ultimately led to him leaving after the North American leg of the "Lick It Up" tour.Black Diamond: The Unauthorized Biography of KISS , Dale Sherman , 1997 He was replaced by Mark St. John. Despite parting on bad terms, Vincent was later used by Kiss as a songwriter on the 1992 album ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." P ...

'', contributing to the songs "

Unholy ''Profanum'' is the Latin word for "profane". The state of being profane, or "profanity," refers to a lack of respect for things that are held to be sacred, which implies anything inspiring or deserving of reverence, as well as behaviour show ...

", "Heart Of Chrome" and "I Just Wanna". Vincent again fell out of favor with Simmons and Stanley, as they claimed that Vincent again began "making all kinds of crazy demands and pulling the same kind of crazy stuff all over again". In 2022, Kiss released a super deluxe multi disc version of the Creatures of the Night album, which featured demos and outtakes with Vincent as guitarist and songwriter, as well as two full CDs of live recordings from the Creatures of the Night/10th Anniversary Tour, the first officially released live recordings with Vinnie Vincent.

Vinnie Vincent Invasion

Following his departure from Kiss in mid-1984, Vincent used his money that he made from his tenure in the band to take a long vacation and traveled the world for a full year visiting places like

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, including a visit to the small town Mora in

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. Then he formed the band

with, among others, former Journey singer Robert Fleischman in the mid-1980s and released two studio albums: ''

'' in 1986 and '' All Systems Go'' in 1988. The band broke up in 1989. After that, the band's singer

Mark Slaughter Mark Allen Slaughter (born July 4, 1964) is an American singer and musician, and one of the founders of the glam metal band Slaughter. Career Slaughter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 4, 1964. Before the formation of Slaughter, he fr ...

and bassist

Dana Strum Dana Strum (born Dana Strumwasser on December 13, 1957) is an American musician whose career spans over 45 years. He is best known as a co-founder, bass player, and one of the two primary songwriters of the US-based hard rock band Slaughter, ...

formed Slaughter.

Later career

In 1996, Vincent released a solo EP from the studio sessions he did in 1990 (some say 1989–91), called ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and d ...

'', once again with Robert Fleischman on vocals. Vincent, as well as playing all the guitars, played bass and did the drum programming under the guise of "V. Meister". Andre LaBelle provided drum tracks to the CD but they were replaced by Vincent's drum programming. LaBelle can be heard on various tracks on the bootleg Guitarmaggedon/Guitars from Hell CD that featured five more songs than the ''Euphoria'' EP. A tribute album entitled '' Kiss My Ankh: A Tribute To Vinnie Vincent'' was released by SplitScreen Entertainment on August 27, 2008. The album consists of new recordings of songs from Vincent's careers with Kiss and the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Featured artists include Steve Brown of Trixter, Troy Patrick Farrell of White Lion,

T.J. Racer T.J. Racer (born Anthony Brehmer) is a bassist born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Racer was the original bass player for glam metal band Nitro, and appeared their first album, '' O.F.R.''. Racer appeared in their first two videos for the songs ''Freig ...

Nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitroalkene, ...

, Mike Weeks of Robert Fleischman's band, Sheldon Tarsha of Adler's Appetite,

Chris Caffery Christopher Caffery (born September 9, 1967) is an American musician, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Recently, Chris has been pursuing a solo career, releasing four albums since 2004. Biography ...

Savatage Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...

and

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel ...

, Ryan Roxie from the

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

band and rock and roll comic

C.C. Banana Anthony John Confessore (1969–2012), better known as C.C. Banana, was a music personality, known for conducting interviews for Metal Sludge while wearing a large yellow banana costume. Banana was profiled by such publications as Classic Rock Magaz ...

, who performs a parody of the Kiss song "

" (rewritten as a roast of Danger Danger vocalist

Ted Poley Ted Poley (born January 5, 1964) is an American singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Danger Danger. Biography Poley joined New Jersey progressive rock band Prophet as a drummer. They released their first album ...

Appearances in 2018–2022

After 22 years of being off the radar, Vinnie Vincent agreed to appear at the 2018 Atlanta Kiss Expo in January. Vincent fulfilled his commitment and appeared at the sold-out expo, playing a four song set including the live premiere of Kiss's "A Million to One" from

and a VVI song "Back on the Streets" where he was joined by original VVI vocalist Robert Fleischman. He said he considers Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley family, wishing them nothing but the best. After some e-mail exchanges with Gene Simmons, Vincent agreed to appear with Simmons on stage in April 2018 which was the first time they have met in person in over two decades. He also gave an exclusive interview to

Eddie Trunk Edward Scott Trunk (born August 8, 1964) is an American music historian, radio personality, talk show host, and author, best known as the host of several hard rock- and heavy metal-themed radio and television shows. Biography Trunk was born on ...

for

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

, which was his first in over two decades, and held multiple question-and-answer sessions with fans. On February 16, 2018, it was announced via Facebook that Vinnie would appear at the Days of the Dead convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in May 2018. Vinnie Vincent's first concert in 30 years was scheduled for December 7, 2018, at Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee. However these shows were postponed until February 8–9, 2019 in Nashville, before being canceled. Vincent then announced another show in Nashville called "Speedball Jamm", which was scheduled for June 7, 2019. This show was ultimately canceled. Two months later, Vincent hosted Vinnie Vincent's Birthday Bash on August 10 in Nashville, TN, followed by Vinnie Vincent's Merry Metal Christmas on December 14–15, 2019. On May 22, 2022 Vinnie played for the first time live together with his lead guitar colleagues from Kiss,

and

, performing a 4-song all Kiss set at Creatures Fest in Nashville.

Personal life

Vincent was married to AnnMarie Peters, and has twin daughters with her. AnnMarie was murdered in 1998, after she and Vincent had divorced. In 1996, Vincent married his second wife Diane Kero, one of Ace Frehley's ex-girlfriends whom he met at a Kiss convention in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

the previous year. The two resided in Smyrna, Tennessee until her death on January 13, 2014. Diane died aged 47 from complications due to alcoholism.

Discography

with Kiss

*''

'' (1982) *''

'' (1983) *''

'' (1992) songwriting credits only

Compilation

*''

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits ''Smashes, Thrashes & Hits'' is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the fourth hits album overall but the second hits album released by the band in the United States ('' Killers'' and '' Chikara'' were not released the ...

'' (1988) *''

Alive III ''Alive III'' is a live album released by the American hard rock band Kiss in 1993. It is the third installment of the ''Alive'' series. The recording of ''Alive III'' took place over multiple dates (in Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis) d ...

'' (1993) songwriting credits only *'' Kiss Unplugged'' (1995) songwriting credits only *'' The Box Set'' (2001) *''

The Very Best of Kiss ''The Very Best of Kiss'' is a compilation album by the American rock band Kiss. It was released on August 27, 2002. It contains 21 of the band's most popular tracks, all previously released, with original versions. Track listing Personnel ; ...

'' (2002) *'' Kiss Symphony: Alive IV'' (2003) songwriting credits only *'' The Best of Kiss, Volume 2: The Millennium Collection'' (2004) *'' The Best of Kiss, Volume 3: The Millennium Collection'' (2006) songwriting credits only *''

Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 ''Kiss Alive! 1975–2000'' is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss, released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006. This box set marks the debut appearance of Kiss' Millennium Concert performance, recorded on Dec ...

'' (2006) songwriting credits only *''The Best of KISS: Green Series'' (2008) *''Playlist Plus'' (2008) *''Playlist Your Way'' (2008) *'' Jigoku-Retsuden'' (2008) songwriting credits only *''15 Classics'' (2008) digital download only *''15 Discoveries'' (2008) digital download only *''45 The Complete Collection'' (2008) digital download only *'' Alive! The Millennium Concert'' (2008) songwriting credits & digital download only

with Vinnie Vincent Invasion

*''

'' (1986) *'' All Systems Go'' (1988) *''

'' (EP) (1996)

with Black Satin

* ''Black Satin featuring Fred Parris'' (1976)

with The Hitchhikers

* ''The Hitchhikers'' (1976)

with Wendy O. Williams

*'' WOW'' (1984 Passport) "Ain't None Of Your Business" Songwriter (Simmons, Carr & Vincent) & Guitar

with Peter Criss

*'' Let Me Rock You'' (1982)

with John Waite

*'' No Brakes'' (1984 EMI) Songwriter "Tears" (1981)

with Dan Hartman

*''

Instant Replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

'' (1978) Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars, Tambourine, Backing Vocal

with Laura Nyro

* ''

Nested ''Nested'' is the seventh studio album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, released in 1978 on Columbia Records. Following on from her extensive tour to promote 1976's ''Smile'', which resulted in the 1977 live album '' Sea ...

'' (1978)

with Treasure

*''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

'' (1977 Epic) Guitar & Lead Vocals on "Innocent Eyes" & "Turn Yourself Around" (with Felix Cavaliere: of The Rascals)

with Felix Cavaliere

* ''Castles in the Air'' (1979)

with HEAT

* ''Still Waiting'' (1981)

Tribute albums and singles

*'' Kiss My Ankh: A Tribute to Vinnie Vincent'' (2008) *''Virtual Invasion – Gypsy in Her Eyes'' (2017) *''Virtual Invasion – Young Blood, Young Fire'' (2018) *''Virtual Invasion – Forbidden'' (2018) *''Virtual Invasion – Tears'' (2020)

with the Bangles

*''

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing is all that exists; the opposite of nothing, or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to anything. The univers ...

'' (1988) Songwriting credit & Guitars for "Make a Play for Her Now"

with Was Not Was

* ''

Born to Laugh at Tornadoes ''Born To Laugh at Tornadoes'' is a 1983 album by the art-funk band Was (Not Was). ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "conceptually, the best album of the year" shortly after its release. Despite the glowing reviews, ''Tornadoes'' made little commerci ...

'' (1983)

with Warrior

* ''Warrior'' (2017 HNE Recordings). Collection of Demos. * ''Warrior II'' (2019 HNE Recordings). Another Collection of Demos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Vinnie 1952 births Living people Musicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut American people of Italian descent American heavy metal guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists Lead guitarists Glam metal musicians Kiss (band) members Vinnie Vincent Invasion members Guitarists from Connecticut 20th-century American guitarists