Ken Kelly, the artist behind the basic Kiss album covers for Destroyer and Love Gun, has reportedly died on the age of 76.
A number of sources confirmed Kelly’s passing, together with his pal Danny Stanton, president and founding father of Coallier Leisure.
Born in Connecticut in 1946, Kelly initially started his profession within the early ‘70s, engaged on comedian books and horror magazines for Warren Publishing. It was Kiss drummer Peter Criss who put the artist on the band’s radar.
“I had at all times thought it was Gene Simmons, however Criss’s spouse stated it was he who was studying Eerie and Creepy whereas Gene and Paul Stanley have been studying Marvel comics,” Kelly famous to Print magazine in 2018. “So I’d say Peter Criss was basically liable for me ending up being the quilt man.”
Kiss enlisted Kelly to create the paintings for his or her 1976 album Destroyer. He was given a primary idea and requested to supply a picture in 30 days. Fortunately, his expertise within the journal trade had ready him for tight deadlines.
“Warren was publishing magazines each couple of weeks, so the turnaround [for covers] needed to be very quick,” he explained. “You needed to give you an idea, paint it, ship it, and you then have been on to the following one. So when Kiss got here alongside, I used to be prepared.”
Regardless of his readiness, Kelly’s preliminary portray was rejected by the band’s label. “They thought it was too violent,” he recalled. “It was 1975, they usually didn���t need to launch such a big undertaking with such a unfavorable cowl. I believed my profession was over. That was one of many heaviest blows I’ve ever acquired.”
As an alternative of ending his profession, Kelly was given the prospect to remodel his portray. The consequence would grow to be Destroyer’s now-legendary paintings.
The recognition of that album cowl led many extra rockers to enlist Kelly’s companies. Rainbow had Kelly create the paintings for 1976’s Rising; Kiss introduced the artist again to color the quilt for 1977’s Love Gun; Manowar used Kelly for six albums between 1987 and 2007; Coheed and Cambria featured an unique Kelly piece on their 2007 LP No World for Tomorrow; and Kelly reteamed with former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley for his 2014 solo album Area Invader.
Outdoors of rock, Kelly remained steadily employed for many years, crafting his distinctive, fantasy-inspired photographs for every little thing from guide covers to toy packaging.
“What I need to do is paint stuff that folks like to take a look at,” the artist defined to The Knoxville Mercury in 2017. “Any topic—fantasy, not-fantasy, toys, enterprise merchandise, regardless of the hell it’s, I’m going to attempt to make it look actual good.”
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