Historical Figure
Gene Simmons
b. 1949
Israeli-American musician (born 1949)
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"NPR Fresh Air Interview with Terry Gross" — March 7, 2009
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Biography
Gene Simmons, also known by his stage persona "the Demon", is an Israeli-American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in 1973. Simmons, alongside Stanley, remained a constant member of the band until their dissolution in 2023. Simmons is also known for his long tongue and for his reality television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which aired from 2006 to 2012. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
Timeline
The story of Gene Simmons, told in moments.
Born Chaim Witz in Tirat Carmel, Israel. His mother survived the Nazi concentration camps. The family emigrated to Queens, New York, when he was eight. He didn't speak English. Changed his name to Gene Klein, then Gene Simmons.
KISS plays their first show at a club called Popcorn in Queens. Fewer than 10 people are in the audience. Within two years they're selling out arenas. Simmons designs his own Demon persona: the face paint, the blood-spitting, the fire-breathing.
Alive! is released, recorded at concerts in Detroit, Wildwood, and Cleveland. The live album breaks KISS through commercially after three studio albums that underperform. It reaches No. 9 and eventually goes quadruple platinum.
KISS merchandise generates more revenue than any rock band's. Simmons personally controls the licensing. By 2006, KISS has licensed over 5,000 products, from coffins to condoms. He never drinks or does drugs.
KISS is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after years of being passed over. The original four members attend but don't perform together. Simmons and Paul Stanley refuse to play with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
In Their Own Words (20)
"Earth has never been in better shape…I know — climate change and a polarised political thing — but there are no more world wars. I mean, imagine what London looked like 60 years ago. This is the best of times. Unemployment in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 50 years — 5-0…More people are working. More people are making more money. Unions are more powerful." (2019) https://www.nme.com/news/music/gene-simmons-donald-trump-forever-changed-politics-2526803
2019
I think Prince was heads, hands and feet about all the rest of them, I thought he left (Michael) Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly, I'll grant you … but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death.
About Prince's death. (May 10, 2016), 2016
The best philanthropy is anonymous charity. When you’re doing it for the right reasons, and not to tell everyone how nice you are. That’s self-aggrandizement. That’s also OK: if you want credit, that’s OK. But the higher giving is anonymous giving.
2016
I’ve known Donald (Trump) for a few decades, and what you can say without argument is that he’s a good father. His kids have turned out really well. There’s nothing bad you can say about that.
2016
My mother was 14 when she was in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. My mother’s alive and well, but only because of America. Without America’s military, the world would be in deep… fill-in-the-blank. I’m forever grateful for that.
2016
Artifacts (15)
Curtis's botanical magazine. (IA mobot31753002721261)
Bentham-Moxon Trust. Curtis, William, Curtis's botanical magazine dedications, 1827-1927 : portraits and biographical notes. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust.
Books from the Library of Congress (IA notablestlouisan01coxj)
Cox, James, 1851-1901, ed
Getty Research Institute (IA historicaldescri00burn)
Burnby, John Duncombe, John, 1729-1786 Simmons and Kirkby
Mural painting in America; (IA muralpaintingina00blas 0)
Blashfield, Edwin Howland, 1848-1936
The American review - a Whig journal of politics, literature, art, and science (IA americanreviewwhv4colt)
Colton, George H. (George Hooker), 1818-1847 Whelpley, James Davenport, 1817-1872
Palette and Pen- The Yearbook of the Massachusetts Normal Art School (IA palettepenyearbo1924mass)
Massachusetts College of Art
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