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Ken Kelly (1946–2022), artist created album covers for KISS  

by Kirk Fox

Ken Kelly was a fantasy artist who created iconic album covers for the rock band KISS including their album ‘Destroyer.’  

KISS cover artist  

Ken Kelly was a fantasy artist who created iconic cover art for the classic KISS albums ‘Destroyer’ and ‘Love Gun.’ He was known for his work on horror comics including ‘Creepy’ magazine. He worked on fantasy hero publications, especially in the sword and sorcery genre. Kelly created cover art for many metal and rock bands and is probably best known for his KISS album covers in the 1970s. He also did cover art for the bands Manowar, Rainbow, and Coheed and Cambria.  

Notable Quote

“I had always thought it was [KISS’] Gene Simmons, but Criss’ wife said it was he who was reading [me] while Gene and Paul Stanley were reading Marvel.” Criss was fundamentally responsible for me ending up being the cover guy.” – He told Print magazine that KISS drummer Peter Criss was responsible for his work with the band 

Tributes to Ken Kelly  

Full Obituary: Loudwire

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