Rock band Kiss have cancelled four tour dates after co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19.

The chart-topping group was forced to axe a performance in Pennsylvania last week after frontman Paul Stanley also contracted the virus.

At the time, Kiss, known for their distinctive on-stage makeup and outfits, said all members of the band and the crew on tour were fully vaccinated.

It has now been announced Simmons, 72, has tested positive and is “experiencing mild symptoms”.

The band and tour crew will isolate for 10 days.

Kiss said they should be able to resume touring on September 9 with a performance in Irvine, California.

The postponed dates are stops in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.

All purchased tickets will be honoured for when new dates are announced, Kiss said.

Simmons – who co-founded Kiss in 1973 alongside Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss – has previously spoken in support of vaccine mandates.

“The idea that somebody says, ‘It’s my body and my choice’ is so idiotic,” he told a US radio show while discussing those hesitant to get the jab.

“What freedom? The freedom to infect everybody else? Seven hundred thousand Americans, close to it, are dead because of COVID. Of course it should be a law.”

The more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 has led to a spike in case numbers across the US, harming the revival of the live entertainment industry.

The US is averaging more than 150,000 daily new cases, while more than 639,000 people have died after contracting the virus since the pandemic began, according to official figures.

Musicians including Stevie Nicks, Garth Brooks and Nine Inch Nails have all axed their performances for the rest of the year, citing concern over the Delta variant.