As far as KISS goes… I was a card carrying member of the KISS army back in the 70’s and they helped me aspire to being a rock star musician, as did The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix, Eddy Van Halen, etc… In fact, there is a whole generation of musicians who admit “Frehley” to be influenced by KISS to some degree.
Today, I realize how limited their musical proficiency was (is?), but there is no doubt that they had a massive influence on Rock music and especially it’s live presentation, from the make-up, lights, pyrotechnics, hydraulic risers, and timeless rock anthems. Anyone who has been to a live KISS show especially during the make-up days knows that it’s always been about the performance and the music is secondary.
While I haven’t listened to them in years, sometimes, I catch myself emulating Ace or “stealing” some of his phrasing while playing/soloing …and I’m not alone, apparently, there’s a whole army of us.