Gene Simmons is one of the most recognizable faces in rock and pop culture under the alter ego The Demon in Kiss , a demon dressed in armor who spits blood and fire during shows. Whether for his powerful stage presence or his business acumen, the singer and bassist built a veritable empire from nothing by joining forces with Paul Stanley , Ace Frehley , and Peter Criss in the 1970s.
Today, at 71 years old and about to resume the final leg of The End Of The Road Tour , the farewell tour of the hottest band in the world, Simmons looks back with pride and shares the secrets of the vitality and success that he maintains even with the end of the line in Kiss.
On August 21st and 22nd, the documentary KISStory , produced by the A&E channel, premieres in Brazil to tell the story of the band. In a press conference for Latin American media outlets, held at the end of July and attended by Wikimetal , the musician discussed personal growth over the years, controversial moments in the band's career, and plans for the future.
“The most important thing is to be honest with the fans, to tell them nothing but the truth. There are beautiful stories, but also bad stories with drugs and alcohol, good and bad moments. But we owe the truth to the fans,” he said about the importance of the new documentary. “We wanted to do something different, we're not trying to embellish [the story], it's not sweet and flowery. We want to show that there are potholes in the road, that's life and it's not fair.”
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In their 40-year career, the band has gone through some dramatic lineup changes, but the members have never stopped speaking openly about the reasons involved and each side's version of events. The situation repeated itself with KISStory , as Criss and Frehley refused to participate in the production after disagreements during negotiations . The former members wanted production credits and a fee, but the band's refusal was categorical. "The answer was 'No, your involvement doesn't guarantee that.' And who loses out in a situation like that? They do," Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock about the case.
Despite the ups and downs, the exchanges of barbs, and even accusations in the press, Simmons never fails to mention his former colleagues with gratitude and respect. “Kiss started as a band, but it became an adopted family. There were fights, some people were healthy and others weren't. It's important to remember that, even in the bad times, we were always a family. Ace and Peter will always be family; we wouldn't be here without them,” he acknowledged.
When reflecting on the band's history, the internal conflicts with former colleagues are remembered as one of the saddest and most painful episodes in the entire process of deterioration leading up to their final departure during the first tour announced as Kiss's farewell tour in the early 2000s. "Unfortunately, the worst moment was when we realized you can't drive a car with two flat tires," the musician recalled. "It was difficult to realize that the four original members wouldn't be on the journey for the entire time; we had to divorce Ace and Peter three times. We brought them back, we loved them, we tried again, and it didn't work—that's the saddest part."
While his colleagues succumbed to addiction, Gene Simmons' problem was always different – and has been since childhood. “I never used drugs, I never smoked cigarettes, but I have a big ego and I know it. I try to control it, but I was an only child, I didn't have brothers or sisters, and all I could do was look in the mirror, look at myself. It becomes easy to forget that teamwork is necessary, and not everything is about you,” he confessed.
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Loved by many, hated by just as many for his outspoken and unapologetic attitude, the bassist's story of overcoming adversity is undeniable. His mother survived three Nazi concentration camps and was liberated at the age of 19, in 1945, after losing her parents and a brother. A few years later, she gave birth to Chaim , the rock star's real name, and moved with her only son to the United States.
When he arrived there, Gene didn't even know how to speak English, but he was fascinated by the world around him. On the radio, The Beatles and Little Richard were among his favorites. His mother's story was the moral compass that kept him away from drugs and made him believe in himself.
The secret to vitality after so long, still wearing clothes weighing over 10 kg during shows, lies in taking care of the body and mind. “Well, you need to go to the gym almost every day. You need to stop eating cake. That’s my biggest problem, I love cakes, cookies, chocolate,” he joked. “But the only way is if you don’t drink alcohol, don’t use drugs, and don’t smoke cigarettes, you can be 71 years old and when you put your hand to your face, it won’t tremble. You can do it. Healthy mind, healthy body, everything works, it works down there, it works up here. When you know what you’re doing on stage, you rock. Many people die young because they put junk in their bodies.”
Tour return
After numerous postponements and even cancellations, Kiss resumes its extensive farewell tour in August, with a guaranteed stop in Brazil between April and May 2022 – provided that public health in the country allows it, as Simmons specifically indicated to the Brazilian audience .
“The world is still not safe, but it’s better than before, and we’re going to be very careful. Everyone on the tour crew will be wearing masks and washing their hands. We urge everyone coming to our show: please get vaccinated,” the musician warned. “I know that in Brazil, especially, it’s a big problem. Politics is getting in the way of science; many people are dying, and this is very serious. Please get vaccinated, please get both doses. You should do this not only for yourselves, but because there are other people who could die because some politician said [the vaccine] is fake. Politicians are idiots; listen to the scientists and doctors.”
Like so many other artists before them, The End Of The Road Tour is the band's second tour to be announced as their last. Twenty years ago, The Farewell Tour promised to be the group's last time on stage, but it became just the final milestone for Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in Kiss's history.
After all this time, the band's work ethic on stage remains the same as that of the four young men who came together in New York to form the band of their dreams, fulfilling the fantasies of millions of people ever since. “The world has many problems: crime, drugs, and violence. I hope you forget about that when you go to a Kiss concert, like going to church. When you go to church, you forget all your problems, even the traffic,” comments Simmons. “We hope that all the shows we still do will maintain the truth of how we presented ourselves in the beginning: 'You wanted the best, you'll get the best.' We want to make those words meaningful in every show.”
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The tour's setlist features the greatest classics from Kiss's discography in sequence, without including B-sides for this final international tour. Experience has already proven that fans want to hear hits , from "Rock And Roll All Nite" to "Lick It Up," and accusations of sexism in the lyrics – an element ingrained in most hard rock bands of that era – will not change that.
“We’re going to play this song, whether people like it or not. I wrote a track called ‘Christine Sixteen’ [on the album Love Gun ], but it’s just lyrics, it doesn’t mean what the title says. Would we play that? Yes, no problem,” he stated. “Like in the movies, it’s not about real life. So in this politically correct world, are we going to play ‘Lick It Up’? Yes, we will.”
In nearly five decades on the road, one memory in Brazil stands out in the heart of the icon. In 1983, during the Creatures of the Night , the band visited the country for the first time and played a historic show in Rio de Janeiro. Due to the large number of fans in the surrounding area, the group had to arrive at the venue in an army tank, and several streets were closed.
“We played at the Maracanã stadium in Brazil. At that time, we had lost Ace, but I remember looking at that stadium, the biggest in the world, and really realizing how many people were there,” he recounted. “It’s four times bigger than any other stadium in the world. It’s something I’d love to repeat, it was the most wonderful thing we’ve ever seen, it was like performing for the universe.”
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