The members of KISS are passing on their musical genes to a whole new generation.
They have 12 children: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, Tommy Thayer, and Vinnie Vincent.
Stanley told Forbes magazine in September 2018, “With each child… it becomes clear that we only physically die, because we are the products of the generations before us and will continue to live on in the generations after us. The children we ultimately produce are the voices of our future selves.”
In December 2025, Paul’s son Evan Stanley teamed up with Gene’s son Nick Simmons to release his first single as Stanley Simmons. “We’ve grown up together. We’re essentially brothers, so I always thought we’d have fun playing together someday,” Nick told PEOPLE in February 2025.
Their fathers are “so proud,” Jean told the New York Post in March 2025.
Evan and Nick aren’t the only children following in their parents’ musical footsteps. Here’s everything you need to know about the children of KISS members.
Gene Simmons’ two children
Axel/Bauer Griffin/Film Magic
Gene has two children, Nick and Sophie, with his wife Shannon Tweed Simmons. Nick was born on January 22, 1989 and Sophie arrived on July 7, 1992.
The children of the KISS co-founders (both of whom appeared on the A&E reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels and the spinoff Shannon & Sophie) have both released music over the years.
After studying computer science at Pomona Pitzer College, Sophie auditioned for The X Factor in 2012. She was dropped during the show’s boot camp, but continued to release music under her name, including several singles. According to Smashing Interviews, Sophie also wrote a song for Rick Ross.
“I’ve always written songs my whole life, but I never thought of doing it as a career just because my family did it, and I didn’t want to be compared,” Sophie told PEOPLE in April 2018. “I wanted to be myself, but you can’t do anything about what you’re passionate about.”
In February 2023, Sophie surprised Gene with a song she wrote for him during a father-daughter dance at her wedding to James Henderson called “Daddy’s Girl.”
In addition to her musical activities, Sophie is also involved in several clothing and accessory lines. She also told Smashing Interviews that when she was 18, she founded Sophie’s Place, a child advocacy center for “children and young people reporting sexual or physical abuse.”
Meanwhile, Nick earned a degree in English and World Literature from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. After graduating, he published three issues of the comic book Incarnate and became a contributing writer for Huffington Post, Vice, Esquire, Galore Magazine, and Elite Daily.
In 2025, Nick released his first single with Evan.
“We were playing together and Evan picked up his guitar and started humming harmonies. It was kind of an unexpected magical moment, and everything just snowballed from there,” he tells PEOPLE of their collaboration. “One song quickly turned into 10.”
Nick’s music is “completely different” from his father’s, Gene told Brutal Planet Media in February 2025.
“(The songs) are kind of musical influences that have been used in TV shows and movies and things like Pink Floyd and Radiohead,” he said. “Neither of my two children have ever asked for my opinion…that’s what you want.”
Paul Stanley’s four children
Jason Laveris/Film Magic. Rich Fury/Getty
Paul is the father of four children. He welcomed his son Evan with ex-wife Pamela Bowen Stanley on June 7, 1994. After his divorce, Paul married his wife Erin Sutton and they have three children together: Colin Michael Stanley (born September 6, 2006), Sarah Brianna Stanley (born January 28, 2009), and Emily Grace Stanley (born August 9, 2011).
“I have four wonderful children,” he said in a September 2025 interview on AXS TV. “I’m going to walk up to one of them and say, ‘I can’t believe you’re my child.'”
Evan studied music at New York University and graduated in 2016. He and Nick released their first single “Body Down” in 2025.
Meanwhile, according to Colin’s Instagram profile, he is currently attending the University of Southern California. He also has a passion for basketball, and Paul told host Howie Mandel on an August 2022 episode of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast that Colin “shoots baskets all day long.”
Colin now shares Paul’s iconic rose tattoo with his father. “Wow, I’m so touched. My 18-year-old son Colin surprised me by saying he was everything I wanted and wanted to honor me by getting a tattoo of me on his arm,” the KISS co-founder wrote to X in December 2024. “He is resolute and I am so touched and humbled. I love you so much, Colin. I will always strive to be worthy of your compliments.”
Sarah, on the other hand, is a dancer. In March 2024, Paul wrote on Instagram, “My daughter Sarah did a great job at the competition! ❤️.”
Paul’s youngest child Emily will graduate from sixth grade in June 2024. “She’s such an amazing girl and I’m so proud of her!” Paul wrote on Instagram. “A free spirit with beauty and brains, and always caring for others. I love you!!!”
All four of Paul’s children attended the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors with him. “I couldn’t be more proud,” he wrote on Instagram. “More pictures to come.”
Ace Frehley’s daughter
Ace Frehley/Instagram
Frehley had a daughter, Monique Frehley, with his estranged wife, Janet Trelotra.
Born in 1980, Monique had a huge influence on Ace’s life and was the reason he quit drinking in 2006.
“Everyone talks about alcoholics having their aha moment,” the guitarist explained to Blabbermas in September 2018. I looked in the mirror and just said, “Fuck, she’s right.” I’ve been much calmer ever since. ”
The musician also showed off the matching “Ace” tattoo he got with his daughter in 2023, saying, “Family ink, rock and roll style!” he wrote on Instagram.
Fraley died in October 2025 after falling at his home.
peter criss’s daughter
Manny Carabel/Getty
Peter’s daughter Jenilee Criss (with ex-wife Debra Jensen) was born on April 7, 1981, a day Peter calls “the best day of my life.”
“We are so proud of her and love her to death,” Peter wrote on his website in 2004.
The drummer, who left KISS a year before Jenilee’s birth, was a stay-at-home dad during her childhood.
“All I could do was raise her, but I was lucky and wealthy,” he told the Roanoke Times in October 1996. “I really got into family life. I really wanted to do something like John Lennon. I admired him for taking the time to do that.”
Peter and Jenilee remained close throughout their teenage years, and Chris told the magazine that they spoke on the phone every day.
“My child is a good child,” he continued. “She learned through me and my friends that drugs are a nightmare with nowhere to go. … I trust her.”
Tommy Thayer’s two daughters
Tommy Thayer/Instagram
Thayer, who played guitar in KISS from 2002 to 2023, has taken a unique path to parenthood. In the summer of 2020, he found out he was a father through 23andMe. He announced on Instagram that he was reunited with his daughter.
“My daughter Sierra and I had the pleasure of meeting last summer. We have already spent a lot of time together since getting to know each other and forming a close bond,” he wrote in March 2021. “She’s a beautiful, genuine person and I couldn’t be happier for her. I think she feels the same way about me. The best thing about miracles is that sometimes they happen.”
Thayer talked about the experience on a Hangin’ & Bangin’ episode of his podcast later that year. “My other cousin was in contact with Sierra,” he explained. “She’s 31 years old. So this all happened in 1988 or ’89.”
He added, “It’s just a blessing…This is the greatest thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”
The two continued to bond, and the following year Sierra traveled with her father. Sayer wrote on Instagram in July 2022, “I’m so happy to be able to take my daughter Sierra on tour with me.”
On December 12, 2024, Sierra became a big sister with the addition of Tommy’s second daughter. The rocker announced her arrival with a sweet photo of her holding her baby’s hand.
A year later, he paid tribute to his daughter, writing: “From the first moment I held you, my heart belonged to you forever. Happy day my daughter.”
Vinnie Vincent’s two daughters
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Vincent is the father of twin girls Elizabeth and Jessica Cusano with his late ex-wife Anne-Marie Cusano.
According to the guitarist, who played his last show with KISS in 1984, fatherhood was a factor in his decision to leave the band.
“My take-home pay was $550 a week, so I wasn’t making any money being in the band,” he said at the KISS Expo in January 2018, according to iHeart. “I had a family. I had twins… and I didn’t have the money to take care of them or buy a house. We lived with relatives and I was on call 24 hours a day… There was no future.”
After his divorce from Ann-Marie, Vincent’s daughters moved with their mother to Shelton, Connecticut. Tragically, Anne-Marie was murdered in 1998. At the time, Elizabeth and Jessica were only 15 years old.
According to the Hartford Courant, the twins testified at the trial of her killer, Gregory MacArthur, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison on February 15, 2003.
“Today is for my mother,” Elizabeth said at her mother’s sentencing. “She can finally rest in peace.”
