Gene Simmons , legendary frontman of Kiss , commented on what he thinks of Emily Armstrong , the new vocalist of Linkin Park , including the controversial story about Scientology that the vocalist was involved in.
During an interview (via Forbes ), Simmons gave his opinion on Linkin Park's return: “It’s great, I’ve listened to it, seen some videos. The new vocalist is great, she fits well with the band. She sounds great and good luck to them. Life is short. Go and live intensely, enjoy it. Linkin Park has fans, they want to hear the songs and the music. Why not? There are bands that go on tour, like Lynyrd Skynyrd , several bands that barely have any original members or don't have any founding members anymore. People want to hear those songs.”
Gene Simmons talks about Linkin Park choosing a woman.
Regarding the fact that some fans criticized the band's decision to choose a woman instead of a man to replace Chester Bennington , Gene is categorical in saying: “This breaks all the rules. Genesis lost Peter Gabriel (vocalist), did they break up? No. After he left, Genesis became a stadium-filling band with a drummer ( Phil Collins ) who came from the back [to sing]. Who makes all these rules, anyway? In rock and roll there are no rules.”
When asked about the controversies surrounding Armstrong, Simmons replies: “I know all about Scientology, I studied L. Ron Hubbard (author and founder of Scientology). The 'thetans' and the remaining energy from when the universe was created, that we all have 'theta' within us. I know that, I understand it and I've read deeply about it. I'm not a follower, but good luck. Life is short. Believe what you want, worship a rock or an alien, anything that makes your boat float.”
The singer, who is Jewish, continues: “People don’t think in those terms. When you look at the facts, as stated in the New Testament, people ignore the real fact that Jews have never been popular, but billions of people worship Jews.”
After the announcement that Emily would be joining Linkin Park, fans began sharing a message that singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta sent to Emily, which seemed to allege that she had connections to Scientology. Cedric left the Church of Scientology at the end of 2017. The vocalist addressed this and other topics recently on her Instagram .
Kiss and the various lineup changes
Simmons has considerable experience when it comes to lineup changes, given that Kiss has gone through several during its fifty years as a band. Only Simmons and Paul Stanley have remained in the band throughout its entire existence. The famous guitarist, Ace Frehley , left the band in 1982, returned in 1996, and left again in 2022. Recently, the guitarist revealed that he would have liked to have returned for the band's final shows.
Drummer and founder Peter Criss had three stints with Kiss, from 1973 to 1980, 1996 to 2000, and finally, from 2002 to 2004. Bruce Kulick , Vinnie Vincent , and Mark St. John have all played guitar, while Eric Carr was the drummer for a decade. When Kiss broke up in 2023 , the final lineup consisted of Simmons, Stanley, drummer Eric Singer , and guitarist Tommy Thayer .
READ ALSO: Emily Armstrong was a good choice for Linkin Park's vocalist, according to Wikimetal readers.
