# Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz (חיים וויץ) on August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor and television personality. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he was the bass guitarist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded with rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in the early 1970s.

## Quotes

* You can be a jazz player and be respected by musicians, but the rest of the world doesn’t care. [...] We’re going to play a game: name a jazz player that means something.
** As quoted by Jon Hadusek of Consequence (October 21, 2024)
* We can't be The Beatles. I can't shine their shoes. I can't sing as well as Paul or John. I can't write those kind of songs. But they would die in my armour and my eight-inch platform heels, and Paul can't spit fire, so there you have it.
** Mojo magazine (December 2009), p. 40.
* Elvis is the king of rock and roll, who made white kids shake there shackle.
** 19 February, 2010. At "Viva Elvis Cirque du soleil.
* Being a Jew, you realize your strongest weapon is your mind.
** "Bang Your Head" book
* I think Prince was heads, hands and feet about all the rest of them, I thought he left (Michael) Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly, I'll grant you … but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death.
** About Prince's death. (May 10, 2016)
* The most important thing in life is to be a selfish asshole. Do what you want, piss off everyone and stop hanging with the guys because they're not going to get you money or sex.
* "Earth has never been in better shape…I know — climate change and a polarised political thing — but there are no more world wars. I mean, imagine what London looked like 60 years ago. This is the best of times. Unemployment in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 50 years — 5-0…More people are working. More people are making more money. Unions are more powerful." (2019)

### Fresh Air interview (February 4, 2002)

    Interview by Terry Gross with Gene Simmons on NPR's Fresh Air
* My mother is probably the wisest person I've ever known. She's not schooled, she's not well read. But she has a philosophy of life that makes well-read people seem like morons.
* My skin is more beautiful than yours. I would be quite more popular in jail if I so chose.
* The notion is that if you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs.
* You know why I'm pulling your leg? Because I can't touch it from where I am.

### What I've Learned (July 2002)

Esquire Magazine
* You can't argue with facts and figures. Either people want it, in which case they pay for it, or it's two guys sitting around at the Plaza having a discussion, which means nothing. I mean, Titanic. I wasn't crazy about the movie. But you know what? I'm gonna shut up, because the people have spoken. End of story!
* KISS is the number-one American band in gold-record sales. In the world, only the Beatles and the Stones are ahead of us. Every other band should be wiping my ass. The line forms over there to the left.
* Prostitute yourself. As far as I'm concerned, that's even braver than waiting for the public to catch on.
* Anybody who picks up a guitar and tells you that there's some inner message that they're trying to convey . . . it's nonsense. They're not being honest. The reason they're doing this is they wanna get lots of chicks and they don't want to work for a living.
* People say, "I want to get laid a lot and make lots of money." That's not the right order.
* A whore, in my estimation, has more credibility than a wife, and I'll tell you why. A wife is supposed to marry you for love. A whore is not there for love, she's there to service you. Now, the difference between them is a whore, before she does her work, will tell you exactly what it is. She'll tell you, "Blow job? This'll cost you seventy-five dollars. This is not love, and after I'm done I never want to see you again." Full disclosure is what they call it in court. A wife will tell you shit. A wife will tell you nothing. She's about to marry you. If you get divorced, she's going to take 50 percent of your gross pretax dollars and try to get more. Now, before you get married, if you dare bring up the notion, "By the way, let's just be completely honest with each other, what happens if we break up?" she will cry and tell you, "That's so unromantic." You know who's more credible? The whore.
* "You can't buy love with money." Only a poor person says that.
* You shall not covet thy neighbor's wife? Well, how about if she goddamn covets me? What do you think about that?
* “I think I know it all, relatively speaking.”

### Interview with Radio.com (July 6, 2016)

Interview with Radio.com (July 6, 2016)
* My mother was 14 when she was in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. My mother’s alive and well, but only because of America. Without America’s military, the world would be in deep… fill-in-the-blank. I’m forever grateful for that.
* I’ve known Donald (Trump) for a few decades, and what you can say without argument is that he’s a good father. His kids have turned out really well. There’s nothing bad you can say about that.
* Like any large organization, there are going to be some bad people. Many people go to church; not every priest is a good guy. But you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Wounded Warrior is an important organization, and all the various vet groups are important because, shamefully, we don’t have an amendment to the Constitution that guarantees if you volunteer to serve your country, and risk life and limb, that you’re even going to get a job, so that you can feed your family. It’s pathetic. ‘Hey, thanks a lot for risking your life, and you’ve been wounded. Good luck out there!’ The men and women of our military may not expect to get rich and famous, but at least give them a job for God’s sake, so they can feed their family!
* The best philanthropy is anonymous charity. When you’re doing it for the right reasons, and not to tell everyone how nice you are. That’s self-aggrandizement. That’s also OK: if you want credit, that’s OK. But the higher giving is anonymous giving.

## External links

* GeneSimmons.com, Simmons' official website
* Gene Simmons Family Jewels
* ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/gene-simmons-donald-trump-forever-changed-politics-2526803