Original KISS drummer Peter Criss will receive the first "Man Of Courage" award from The Beauty Foundation For Cancer Care, a non-profit organization that serves to alleviate the physical, financial and emotional burdens patients and their families face while coping with cancer. The new honor will be named "The Peter Criss Man Of Courage Award" after this year.

"I think it's wonderful that The Beauty Foundation is giving exposure to male breast cancer," Criss said. "The more aware that men become that this is not just a woman's disease, the more lives that will be saved."

Now in its seventh year, The Beauty Ball is The Beauty Foundation For Cancer Care's largest annual fundraising initiative. The Beauty Ball will take place on Saturday, April 13 at Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck, N.J., at 7:00 p.m. The event will include an evening of dancing and casino action, with cocktails and food served throughout the night. Tickets are $275 each and can be purchased online at this location.

While some men feel embarrassed because of "this macho crap," Criss told CNN surviving breast cancer was actually a blessing. He was treated before the tumor could spread and said he was speaking about male breast cancer to raise the profile of this rare disease.

Criss, who played drums for KISS and was known as "Catman," offered this advice to men who spot lumps in their breast: "Don't sit around playing Mr. Tough Guy. Don't say 'It's going to go away.' It might not and you might not see life anymore and how beautiful that is."

Criss, who is currently working on a new rock album, told Reuters his bout with cancer had affected his songwriting.

"My lyrics are not so deep and dismal," he said.

Photo courtesy of PeterCriss.net