Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons , founding members of Kiss , went through a lot during their nearly five decades as a band – and they didn't always get along. Their personality differences were noticeable publicly, with exchanges of barbs and arguments in front of the cameras.
In 1993, during the band's "no makeup" era , Kiss was scheduled to headline Dick Clark , a prestigious event in the United States. Before the performance, the musicians were interviewed about their careers and relationship with fans, but Simmons's demeanor bothered his bandmate.
After talking about their shows in Brazil as the most “incredible” memories of their career , the two were asked about the “strangest request” they ever received from a fan. “The strangest request has to do with a baby and a young woman who wouldn’t mind if I gave her one. I refused,” Simmons replied. “That was very strange.”
Paul Stanley had been sitting with his arms crossed since the beginning of the conversation, but he didn't hide his indignation at the bassist's response. The next question was about the "most unusual gift" the band had received – and Simmons insisted on the baby story, laughing.
From that moment on, the band's lead vocalist expressed dissatisfaction with the words. “Yes, the imaginary baby. We receive so many gifts all the time that it’s hard to say which is the best. Obviously, you can invent stories about women, rock n’ roll and parties, but I think the greatest gift we’ve ever received is 20 years of career,” said Stanley. “That’s a little more important than saying ‘oh, there are so many women.’ Any idiot can get a woman when they’re on tour. That’s more important than bragging about the rest.”
With Paul Stanley's sarcastic tone, the atmosphere became tense, and Gene Simmons asked permission to interrupt the interview. "Can you stop cutting me off on camera? Everything I say, he says 'don't listen to that.' Don't do that anymore; I won't accept this bullshit," he complained.
After the confrontation, the interview changed tone on Simmons' part, with answers more related to the band's legacy and without any new sexist or sexually suggestive comments. Watch the excerpt of the discussion with subtitles below and the full interview here (in English) .
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