Gene Simmons and Kiss are out on tour and proudly showing off their latest new and improved lighting and pyrotechnic spectacle. Once again on the road with Simmons and Paul Stanley are current members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer -- both of whom dress up like co-founders Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively.

We asked Simmons what it feels like to turn around and see the spitting image of his former bandmates -- yet it's someone else: "Y'know, we still have a tug of the heart. It's like your drunken dysfunctional father who was a bum and you finally had to get rid of him -- but you still remember the beginning when he was a good dad. Ace and Peter are beloved, as they should be, for the beginning. For helping launch the band -- if you don't mind me saying so -- that changed the face of rock and roll, literally and figuratively speaking. But equally as important part of the beginning of Kiss, it's also important to know that with them in the band today, Kiss wouldn't be around."

The last time the original members of Kiss performed together was in the spring of 2001, on the Australian leg of their Farewell tour. Frehley left the group after those dates, saying afterwards that he took the word "farewell" seriously. Criss claimed that his contract with Kiss wasn't renewed in March 2004. Both charges have been disputed by Simmons and Stanley.

Out now is the ultimate music insider book And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records, co-written by the label's co-founder and executive vice president and managing director Larry Harris. Harris explains that a perfect example of spending money to make money was how, in an unprecedented move, Casablanca promoted Kiss as a star attraction starting with their 1974 non-hit self-titled debut: "Radio people have told me that if it wasn't for what Casablanca committed and did for them, because the money we put into them when they weren't selling any records and into the gigs was unbelievable. To make them headliners in markets that (we) first walked into with hardly any airplay at all -- was never done. People were looking at us like we were crazy."

Kiss tour dates (subject to change):
July 29 - Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion
July 30 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
July 31 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
August 6 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
August 7 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center
August 9 - Indianapolis, IN - Indiana State Fairgrounds
August 13 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
August 14 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
August 15 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain
August 17 -Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 19 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
August 20 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
August 21 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
August 27 - Virginia Beach, VA - Virginia Beach Amphitheater
August 28 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
August 29 - Raleigh, NC - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
August 31 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre At Lakewood
September 2 - Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheater
September 3 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
September 4 - Saint Paul, MN - Minnesota State Fairgrounds
September 10 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
September 11 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
September 12 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
September 17 - The Woodlands, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
September 18 - Frisco, TX - Pizza Hut Park
September 19 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center
September 22 - Sandy, UT - Rio Tinto Stadium
September 24 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Wireless Pavilion
September 25 - Fontana, CA - Epicenter Festival at Auto Club Speedway Of Southern California

Miley Cyrus' ex-boyfriend, model-singer-songwriter Justin Gaston, definitely seems to know how to make light of their break up. In a video interview with Cambio, Gaston tells the interviewer, "I'm over that. I don't want to be defined by women or a relationship."

He then heads inside his apartment where there's an entire wall filled with photos of Cyrus -- clearly put together for the cameras. He ends up doing the interview with the photo collage as the backdrop. Glad to see he has sense of humor about it all.

Cyrus is now dating Aussie actor, Liam Hemsworth.

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MADONNA REP DEBUNKS CHARITY CONCERT RUMOR: Earlier this week, there were reports of Madonna planning a big charity concert for Malawi, but a rep tells GossipCop.com that it's "not true at all."

SPOTTED: ASHLEY GREENE AND JOE JONAS AGAIN: Are Ashley Greene and Joe Jonas more than friends? According to HollywoodLife.com, they grabbed lunch this week in Los Angeles and were spotted a couple of weeks ago dining together in London.

KATY PERRY REWROTE 'TEENAGE DREAM' FIVE TIMES: Katy Perry took time working out lyrics and music for songs on her upcoming album. She tells Billboard that she was in the studio with her producers fighting with them to change the melody or lyrics. Perry adds, "I think we rewrote 'Teenage Dream' five times for 10 days straight. On the last day, I was so happy to finally get somewhere that we all agreed on."

M.I.A. OFFERS FREE SHOW FOLLOWING RAIN AND BAD REVIEWS: M.I.A. promises New York City fans that she's working on staging a free show to make up for the one she performed at a festival this past weekend. The rain showers forced her to cut her set short. But rain wasn't the only thing that got in the way. Concert reviewers blasted the singer's vocals and overall performance. M.I.A. tweeted, "im gonna do a free show in nyc when i get back, tho i dont have powers over rain! if u still have the hard ticket u free! xxxo." She added, "if u do me a lil dance , ill let u in too!"

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD UNVEILS 'TOUCH' VIDEO: Natasha Bedingfield is out with the video for her new single, "Touch" -- the lead single off her upcoming album, Strip Me. Watch it here: http://tinyurl.com/24sxk3p

Rihanna has said that although her hit song with Eminem, "Love The Way You Lie" is a touchy subject, she had no second thoughts about being a part of it. She told Access Hollywood, "It's something that we've both experienced on different sides, different ends of the table. Eminem pretty much just broke down the cycle of domestic violence and it's something that people don't have a lot of insight on."

She added, "The lyrics were so deep, so beautiful and intense. It's something that I understood, something I connected with, which made me think it was a hit and I want to be a part of a hit, so of course I couldn't say no to Eminem."

The video for "Love the Way You Lie" was shot last week in L.A. and co-stars actors Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan.

It is expected to premiere sometime this week.

RIHANNA WANTS TO COLLABORATE WITH LADY GAGA

Rihanna has said that she'd like to collaborate with pop star Lady Gaga. She told Scotland's Daily Record that their similar musical styles and love for fashion would make a "hot and sexy" video.

She said, "A collaboration between Gaga and myself would be really cool because we do a similar type of music and we both really love fashion. I'm sure it would be a very hot and sexy video. I would love to collaborate with her, who wouldn't?"

RIHANNA TO MAKE HER FILM DEBUT IN BATTLESHIP

Rihanna is set to make her film debut in the upcoming movie, Battleship. According to Variety, the singer joins Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard for Peter Berg's adaptation of the popular board game.

Rihanna's role has not been confirmed as of yet.

Filming will begin sometime this summer.

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber are good pals -- so much so that Gomez feels comfortable putting her fellow teen star in his place. She told host George Lopez this week that once while performing together in concert, Bieber asked her to remove her heels to make up for their height difference, but she wouldn't do it. Gomez said, "I told him 'No, I'm not going to take off my heels. You're short, embrace it.' He's getting taller, though."

The 18-year-old singer-actress added, "I love him. He's like my little brother. I like to say his name on stage because if I'm performing badly, I say his name and the audience will cheer."

While visiting Lopez Tonight this week, Gomez had to use a Dynavox voice-enhancing machine because she has temporarily lost her voice.

She was forced to cancel shows in Deleware and Ohio due to her strained vocal chords.

Gomez is working on a new album tentatively called A Year Without Rain. It features a collaboration with Katy Perry and is expected out in September.

Gomez stars in the film, Romana And Beezus, in theaters now.

Ke$ha is a true pop artist, but she has a special place in her heart for country music. The Nashville native tells Paper magazine that she's really inpired by country adding, "My mom wrote country music and I love Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash. I think at some point there might be some country collaborations or records in the future."

But for now, Ke$ha is going to stick with her signature sing-talk kind of vibe, noting, "I'm also really digging being called, like half-jokingly, a white-girl rapper. I think it's really funny and I'm going to ride that train for a little bit."

Other Exceprts From Paper Interview:

On her perversions:"I wouldn't say I'm aggressive, but I'm a pervert. I have a gold Trans Am and my favorite thing to do in the world is to drive around blasting Zeppelin or Sabbath, cat calling dudes. It doesn't work, but it's fun."

On her pick-up methods in bars: "I usually do something ridiculous like send him over a shot of whiskey and then spank him. Something like that."

On whether Jack Daniels is really her drink of choice: "I like whiskey and I like red wine -- those are my two favorites. I love to lie around my house listening to vinyl records and drinking red wine. It's amazing. But I'm never home, so . . ."

Ke$ha is out with her new single, "Take It Off." She says the track is about a vampire party.

Chris Daughtry shaved his beard and decided to chronicle his experience on Twitter with some before and after photos. He wrote, "Bout to get rid of the beard" yesterday (Tuesday, July 27th) before sharing Twitpics of his facial hair removal.

Daughtry once announced on American Idol that he shaves his head because he's balding.

Daughtry will appear on NBC's Today show on Friday, August 20th.

Justin Bieber can't go anywhere without being trailed by girls. Earlier this week, he was nearly trampled by fans while riding a Segway in a parking lot in Glendale, Arizona next to the Jobing Arena.

According to PopDirt.com, the Canadian star decided to head out for a quick ride on his Segway about 30 minutes before his show -- without any security. As soon as he was spotted, Bieber was rushed by dozens of screaming girls. One witness caught the entire thing on video.

Bieber didn't seem to mind the attention though. Probably in response to the fan rush, Bieber tweeted, "PHEONIX we got some surprises for u tonight . . .gonna be incredible . . . so many girls . . . so many girls."

Maroon 5 continues to climb up the charts with "Misery," the lead single from its upcoming Hands All Over album. Here's what frontman Adam Levine has to say about the song: "'Misery' is the first single and it's my favorite combination of happy melodic pop song with sad lyrics -- my favorite combo. I mean it's kind of like -- if there's anything that you can call vintage Maroon 5 this is what it would be because it sounds like us. We're going with something that's familiar."

Levine tells us that with Maroon 5's third album, the guys wanted to return more to their roots: "We stopped wanting to sound like us and then realized, 'We are the only ones that sound like us. So why not, you know? We want to take ownership of that sounds. I think this third record harkens back to more of the spirit of the first record, and is less like the second one. Or I guess a combination of both. The best elements of both records all in one."

Maroon 5 kicks off a tour on Friday (July 30th) in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Hands All Over arrives on September 21st.

Maroon 5 performed a live New York City concert last night that aired on Fuse.