NEW YORK — You wanted the best? You got the best! The loudest, wildest, pint-sized rock ’n’ roll demolition crew this side of the Demon himself just stomped through another sweat-soaked set, proving once and for all that good things come in small packages — especially when they’re spitting fire, wearing seven-inch platforms, and channeling the original Gods of Thunder.
Meet Mini KISS, the all-little-people KISS tribute band that’s been blowing minds and raising (tiny) hell since 1995. Born in the same gritty New York City streets that birthed the real deal, these guys didn’t just copy the makeup, they shrunk the spectacle, cranked the energy to 11, and turned it into a Guinness World Record-holding phenomenon.
Founder Joey Fatale, a 4-foot-4 dynamo known onstage as Mini Gene, cooked up the idea while unpacking his vinyl collection back in Oceanside. One look at that unopened Alive! album and boom: lightning struck. He slapped on the face paint, recruited a crew of little buddies, and hit the Lava Lounge, standing on the bar lip-syncing to KISS classics. The crowd lost their minds. The rest is rock history.
Tragically, Joey passed in 2011, but his brother Louis and the band kept the pyro burning. Today, Mini KISS rotates a killer lineup including Arturo Knight, Richard Huizenga-Rayos, Nik Sin, Andrew Jacobs, and others stepping into the boots of Mini Paul, Mini Ace, Mini Peter, and the tongue-wagging Mini Gene. Average height? About 4’6”. Attitude? Ten feet tall.
These aren’t your average bar-band novelty act. They’ve shared stages with Blue Öyster Cult, Peter Frampton, Air Supply, and even Jackyl. They crashed the KISS Dr. Pepper Super Bowl commercial in 2010, popped up in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Lip Sync Battle, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, and George Lopez. In 2023, they officially became the World’s Shortest Male Band on Italian TV, snatching the Guinness crown in Milan.
