Gene Simon

Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons is an Israeli-born American hard rock bass guitarist, vocalist, and actor. He is best known as "The Demon," his blood-spitting, fire-breathing, and tongue-wagging persona in the hard rock band Kiss; an act he co-founded in the early 1970s. Simmons also contends that he has "never been high, drunk, or smoked in his life."

Gene Simmons was born in Haifa, Israel, and emigrated to New York City at the age of eight, with his mother Florence Klein—a Jewish Hungarian immigrant and the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust. His father, Feri Witz, did not accompany them to the U.S. When Simmons was young, his mother's long absences while working two jobs in order to make ends meet left emotional scars that gave him a strong desire for wealth. After arriving in the U.S., he took the name Eugene Klein (later Gene Klein), Klein being his mother's maiden name. In the late 1960s, he changed his name to Gene Simmons.

Gene Simmons became involved with his first band, Lynx, then renamed The Missing Links, when he was a teenager. Eventually, he disbanded The Missing Links to form The Long Island Sounds. While he played in these bands, he kept up odd jobs on the side to make more money, including making fanzines and trading used comic books. Simmons attended Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York. He then joined a new band, Bullfrog Bheer, and the band recorded a demo, "Leeta"; later included on the Kiss box set.

Gene Simmons formed the rock band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Stanley Harvey Eisen (now known as Paul Stanley) and recorded one album, which was never released. Dissatisfied with Wicked Lester's sound and look, Simmons and Stanley attempted to fire their band members; they were met with resistance, and they quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They decided to form the ultimate rock band, and started looking for a drummer. Simmons and Stanley found an ad placed by Peter Criss, who was playing clubs in Brooklyn at the time; they joined and started out as a trio. Paul Frehley responded to an ad they put in the Village Voice for a lead guitar player, and soon joined them. Kiss released its self-titled debut album in February 1974. Stanley quickly took on the role of lead performer on stage, while Simmons became the driving force behind what became an extensive Kiss merchandising franchise.

In 1983, while Kiss's fame was waning, the members took off their trademark make-up and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that continued into the 1990s. The band hosted their own fan conventions throughout 1995, and fan feedback about the original Kiss members reunion influenced the highly successful 1996-1997 Alive Worldwide reunion tour. In 1998, the band released Psycho Circus, its first album in almost 20 years by the original line-up. Since then, the original line-up has once again dissolved, with Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley on lead guitar and Eric Singer (who performed with Kiss from 1992 up through 1996) replacing Peter Criss on drums.

Gene Simmons, who has never been married, currently lives in Beverly Hills, California with longtime partner and former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed. They have two children: a son, Nicholas (born 22 January 1989), and a daughter, Sophie (born 7 July 1992). He has formerly lived in relationships with Cher and Diana Ross. He has also dated actress Liv Ullman.

Gene Simmons speaks four languages – English, Hungarian, Hebrew and German – and is currently learning Japanese and Mandarin.