1. Gene Simmons 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 the early 1970s until their retirement in 2023.
69 Facts About Gene Simmons
1. 2.
Gene Simmons was born Chaim Witz on August 25,1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish refugees from Hungary.
3.
Gene Simmons's mother, Florence "Flora" Klein, later Lubowski was born in Jand and survived internment in Nazi concentration camps from November 1944 to her liberation from the Mauthausen camp in Austria on May 5,1945.
4.
Gene Simmons' father, Ferenc "Feri" Yehiel Witz, was a carpenter whom Klein married in 1946 and the couple moved to Israel the following year.
5.
Gene Simmons spent his early childhood in Tirat Carmel and was raised in a practicing Jewish household.
6.
Gene Simmons has said that his family was "dirt poor", scraping by on rationed bread and milk.
7.
Gene Simmons's father remained in Israel, where he had another son and three daughters.
8.
Gene Simmons later attended Sullivan County Community College in New York, and Richmond College in Staten Island, New York where he graduated with a BA in Education in 1970.
9.
Gene Simmons chose his stage name in tribute to the rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene Simmons.
10.
Gene Simmons practiced playing his guitar for hours on end.
11.
From 1968 to 1970 Gene Simmons attended Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York for two years.
12.
Gene Simmons joined a new band, Bullfrog Bheer, and the band recorded various home demos including Leeta; this was later included on the Kiss box set.
13.
Stanley took on the role of lead performer on stage, while Gene Simmons became the driving force behind what became an extensive Kiss merchandising franchise.
14.
In 1978, Gene Simmons appeared in a made-for-television movie, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park.
15.
In 1981, Gene Simmons auditioned at ABC for a role in a new Marcy Carsey produced show called Grotus and was offered his own TV show, which he declined as the pay was lower than what he made with Kiss at the time.
16.
In 1985, Gene Simmons appeared on the TV series Miami Vice in an episode titled "The Prodigal Son".
17.
Gene Simmons appeared as a psychic working at the Mystic Journey Bookstore in Venice, California on the American hidden camera prank TV series I Get That a Lot.
18.
Gene Simmons guest-starred as himself in the 2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode Long Road Home.
19.
Gene Simmons performed in the 1984 Michael Crichton thriller Runaway starring Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes and Kirstie Alley as well as the 1987 Gary Sherman action film Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Rutger Hauer.
20.
In 2004, Gene Simmons appeared in the TV series Third Watch for two episodes.
21.
Gene Simmons played Mob Kingpin Donald Mann in the season 5 finale and the season 6 premiere.
22.
In March 2015, Gene Simmons founded the film production company Erebus Pictures and announced as the first project the Horror-thriller film Armed Response.
23.
In 2022, Gene Simmons became a judge of the talent competition show Yoshiki Superstar Project X, airing on Hulu Japan and produced by Japanese musician and composer Yoshiki.
24.
On September 14,2023, Gene Simmons was one of the guest speakers chosen to introduce Yoshiki at his imprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
25.
Gene Simmons produced a Van Halen demo tape and attempted to find a record deal for the band with a variety of major record labels.
26.
In 1989, Gene Simmons managed the recording side of Liza Minnelli's entry into mainstream pop.
27.
From 2006 to 2008, Gene Simmons served in a marketing and publicity role with the Indy Racing League.
28.
In 2012, Gene Simmons headlined the Rock N Roll All Stars tour which performed in stadiums across South America.
29.
Gene Simmons was in attendance and the entire news conference and subsequent tour was featured on Gene Simmons Family Jewels' series finale episodes.
30.
In 2017, Gene Simmons launched "The Vault" which is a compilation of all of his major works selling for $2,000.
31.
In 2018, Gene Simmons was named "Chief Evangelist Officer" of the Canadian cannabis company Invictus MD Strategies.
32.
Gene Simmons plays bass, and lead vocals are split between Gene Simmons and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in most Kiss songs.
33.
Gene Simmons has expressed his preference for "memorable simplicity" in music as opposed to technical complexity.
34.
Some publications reported that his tongue measured up to 7 inches long and he had it insured for $1 million, although Gene Simmons himself has not commented on this.
35.
Gene Simmons often joked that he and Tweed were "happily unmarried" for over 20 years.
36.
Gene Simmons often paraphrased Groucho Marx, saying "Marriage is an institution, and I don't want to live in an institution".
37.
Gene Simmons formerly had live-in relationships with Cher and Diana Ross, revealing that he fell in love with Ross while dating Cher.
38.
Gene Simmons has boasted many times about having bedded thousands of women.
39.
Gene Simmons is multilingual, and is able to speak Hungarian, German, English, Hebrew, and some Japanese.
40.
Gene Simmons believes he is an "outcast" in the rock music community due to his open disdain for drug and alcohol use, and has proudly claimed many times to have never been drunk or high on a substance in his life.
41.
Gene Simmons has said the reason for his sober lifestyle was for his mother, who was a Holocaust survivor.
42.
Gene Simmons is a science fiction and comic book fan and published several science-fiction fanzines, among them Id, Cosmos, Tinderbox, Sci-Fi Showcase, Mantis and Adventure.
43.
Gene Simmons contributed to other fanzines, among them BeABohema and Sirruish.
44.
Gene Simmons is alive and I am alive because of America.
45.
In 2010, Gene Simmons said he regretted voting for Barack Obama and criticized the 2009 health care reforms.
46.
Gene Simmons described the trip as a "life changing experience".
47.
Gene Simmons announced he has plans to take Kiss to Israel, something that happened first in 2015 with a concert in Tel Aviv.
48.
Gene Simmons has said that he is an ardent supporter of Israel.
49.
Gene Simmons later clarified his comments on his website, saying he had been talking specifically about Muslim extremists.
50.
At the time, Gene Simmons refused to grant permission to NPR to make the interview available online.
51.
In 2007, Gene Simmons openly spoke out against music piracy, and called for file-sharers to be sued.
52.
In 2010, Anonymous staged a DDoS on his website, prompting Gene Simmons to hit back with provocative comments once he was back online, at which point Anonymous staged a second DDoS, taking Gene Simmons's site down again.
53.
Gene Simmons blames file sharing and that no one values music "enough to pay you for it" for the decline of the rock music scene.
54.
In July 2014, Gene Simmons made comments in an interview with Songfacts that encouraged those with depression to kill themselves.
55.
Gene Simmons later clarified his comments and apologized for the incident.
56.
Gene Simmons later issued a statement saying that he has "a tremendous amount of respect" for the company's workers and apologized for "unintentionally offending" any staff members during his visit.
57.
Gene Simmons traveled to Zambia during his Gene Simmons Family Jewels show to visit several of his sponsored children, of whom he has more than 140.
58.
Gene Simmons said that the trip "[was] a stark reminder that life doesn't treat everyone the same".
59.
Gene Simmons's family received the MEND Humanitarian Award for their philanthropic efforts and support for Mending Kids International at the organization's annual gala on November 9,2013.
60.
Gene Simmons recalled his mother's excitement when they received a CARE box one day.
61.
Gene Simmons helped found "The Children Matter", which is a collaborative initiative with the charity MATTER that fights to give children around the world access to health care.
62.
Gene Simmons is an advocate for public safety during the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging people to wear face masks and follow social distance protocols.
63.
In 2012, Gene Simmons was awarded the Golden God award by the Revolver magazine.
64.
Gene Simmons is an honorary board member of Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged US public schools.
65.
Gene Simmons decorated a guitar for auction with his son Nick.
66.
On December 15,2014, Gene Simmons was awarded the Golden Medal by the Reial Cercle Artistic de Barcelona.
67.
Gene Simmons is a playable character in Tony Hawk's Underground, unlocked when completing the story mode on Normal difficulty, and appears with his Kiss bandmates in the Hotter Than Hell level to play one of three songs upon collecting the four K-I-S-S letters.
68.
Gene Simmons's Kiss character, the Demon, is a playable character in Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child.
69.
Gene Simmons has a large role in the 2010 music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.