Gene Simmons

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Gene Simmons as he appeared on his 1978 solo album.

Gene Simmons (born Chaim Klein Witz on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel) is the performer and entertainment mogul best known as the brother of Richard Simmons, his blood spitting, fire breathing, tongue-wagging persona in the rock band KISS. Simmons currently lives in Beverly Hills, California with his long time partner Shannon Tweed and their two children, Nicholas and Sophie. Simmons claims he has had sex with over 4,600 women 1.

Biography

In 1957, he emigrated to New York City as a child with his mother—a Hungarian immigrant and the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust—after his father, Feri Witz, abandoned his family. After emigrating to America, he took the name Gene Klein; he felt that "Gene" was more American than "Chaim," and his mother's maiden name was Klein. In the late 1960s, he changed his name again, to Gene Simmons, as he simply felt that "Gene Klein" didn't have enough of a ring to it. As a kid Gene was very much into comics and especially Marvel Comics which also published first KISS comic in 1977. Many of Gene's influences can be found from comics or movies and those influences have also affected his "Demon" character, costume and gestures. Lon Chaney Sr. was and is one of his favorite actors.

Simmons' first band, Bullfrog Bheer, played a few gigs and made a few recordings in the late 1960s, one of which ("Leeta") was eventually released on the KISS box set in demo form. Another Bullfrog Bheer song, "Little Lady", eventually was recorded by KISS as "Goin' Blind", and an early-Who-ish sounding song called "Stanley the Parrot" is said to have been the original incarnation of KISS' "Strutter."

Simmons formed the rock band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Stanley Eisen (a.k.a. Paul Stanley) and recorded one album, which was never released. Dissatisfied with Wicked Lester's sound and look, Simmons and Stanley went looking for other musicians and eventually joined up with drummer Peter Criscuola and lead guitarist Paul Frehley—who would become Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, respectively. When Simmons and Stanley's attempts to fire their old band members met with resistance, they simply quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They formed a new band with Criss and Frehley, which they soon dubbed KISS. KISS released their first self-titled debut album in February of 1974 and have been active to the present day, with Simmons being the driving force behind their extensive marketing franchise.

Simmons is also a movie producer and actor who has appeared in a number of movies including Runaway, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Trick Or Treat, Red Surf, Detroit Rock City, and The New Guy. Most recently, Simmons has been the creative force behind such television projects as:

• My Dad The Rock Star, a cartoon by the Canadian animation company Nelvana, about the mild mannered son of a Gene Simmons-like rock star.

• Mr. Romance, a show created and hosted by Simmons on the Oxygen network.

• Rock School, a reality show in which Gene tries to make a rock band out of a group of children trained in classical music, and in a second series, a group of kids from a 'tough' comprehensive school.

• Family Jewels, another reality show currently in pre-production for A&E. The premise is essentially the same as The Osbournes, with cameras following Simmons and his family around to document their home life.

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Gene Simmons in a scene from the TV-series Rock School.

In 2005, Simmons was sued by a former lover, Georgeann Walsh Ward, who claimed that he "defamed her in the VH1 documentary 'When KISS Ruled the World,' which 'repeatedly falsely portrayed her as an unchaste woman,' . . . though it never mentioned her by name, allegedly implied that Ward was more a groupie than a girlfriend. Ward claimed that she was in an "exclusive, monogamous relationship" with Simmons that began before KISS formed." [1] The suit is ongoing.

Trivia

• A February 4, 2002 interview on the NPR radio show Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Gene Simmons at one point said to Gross "If you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs," to which Gross replied, "That's a really obnoxious thing to say." Unlike most Fresh Air guests, Simmons refused to grant permission for the interview to be made available online. However, some unauthorized transcripts are available.[2]

• In a later Fresh Air interview, satirist Al Franken related to Terry Gross his own experience with Gene Simmons. According to Franken, he was awaiting a racquetball partner at a Manhattan racquetball club when Simmons challenged him to a match, claiming "I'll kick your ass." Though Simmons took the first two points, Franken won the match by "15-3 or 15-4." Simmons challenged Franken to another match, but retracted his challenge and left when Franken suggested a $500 wager.[3]

• Simmons has also appeared on three episodes of Family Guy as himself. In the one episode, he had slept with Lois Griffin (a.k.a. "Loose Lois") back when he was still known as Chaim Witz. In another, he is shown starring with the other members of KISS in a cheesy Christmas special called KISS Saves Santa, a parody of their made for TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. In his (to date) final appearance on Family Guy, Simmons performs oral sex (off-camera) on Lois while standing just inside the Griffin's door, an exaggeration of his trademark tongue length (several meters long, in the episode).

• Simmons was a guest DJ at WXRK K-Rock in New York during the Fourth-of-July Monster Metal Meltdown in 2005.

• He discovered and produced demos for Van Halen and Cinderella.

• He dated both Cher and Diana Ross.

• Simmons is a fan of the rock band Phish. He asked Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio to appear on his 2004 solo album Asshole, but Anastasio, despite being a KISS fan, declined.

• He is currently marketing the Indy Racing League.

• He is the father of two children, Nick and Sophie, by longtime girlfriend, Shannon Tweed.

• Bob Ezrin recommended that Gene should sing "God of Thunder". Paul Stanley wrote the song and sang lead vocals on the demo.

• He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree and can speak seven languages.

• Gene Simmons made a special guest appearance on a 2005 episode of Mind of Mencia. He helped Carlos find out "What Women Want".

• Simmons claims he has never been drunk or taken drugs.

Albums

• Gene Simmons 1978
• Asshole 2004
• Speaking In Tongues 2004

Books

• KISS and Make-Up, (ISBN 0-609-81002-2)
• Sex Money KISS, (ISBN 1-893224-86-4)

External links

• GeneSimmons.com, Mr. Simmons' official website
• Gene Simmons at IMDb

KISS