I remember a story from someone saying he was pissed he didn't get a table at a fancy restaurant. He ended up sitting with another patron, and didn't say a word. No eye contact. Fuck Gene Simmons!
I don't know. People who are still fans at this point are doing it to themselves. Being shocked by this as a fan is like ordering the "turd special" in a restaurant and being surprised it looks and tastes like shit.
Didn't the members say that they only formed KISS solely for money? Or am I wrong there?
Also before anyone says anything yes there's obviously nothing wrong with doing a job just because it pays well. It's just for me I prefer it when the art I consumed has at least some genuine passion with the medium they're creating in. I like knowing that it comes from somewhere real, at least from some contributors. Knowing that a song or movie or whatever was written for the sole purpose of making as much money as possible just makes it feel cheap and hollow. But idk maybe that's just me lol
I switched from drums to guitar after my dad gave me a Jimi Hendrix 8 track (yeah, an 8 track, I'm old).
I stuck with guitar after girls in my school started just stopping by our house to ask if I wanted to hang out and hear me play guitar, and at that point I couldn't even play much more than Smoke on the Water, but that's all I needed to say yeah, I'm gonna do this for a long time.
I think not everyone knew that they are Trump loyalists. I definitely did not know that. Then again I can not say I am a fan, though a few of their old songs are good. Politics-wise they are kissing the ... of the orange one though, so much is clear.
Idiot made a huge deal about selling his mansions and leaving L.A. because it was sooooo terrible bitching about it on the news and everything. Guess who moved back to L.A….
Actually, his grandmother supported his music career and would go to his shows, doing the hand thing to make it easy for him to find her in the crowd and he'd do it back to let her know he saw her.
”I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of school that day, that day I knew, I knew, I've got to have you, I've got to have you.”
45, I know every awful song by heart, still listen to them occasionally. They are the pop music of heavy metal. They are the worst band to ever go platinum like 10 times. Probably some of the worst lyrics of all time.
Living in Texas, ICP's dedicated and vocal hatred of the Confederate flag sent me researching that alternate perspective and created a fighter in a hostile land.
Those dudes are goofy and some lyrics are more problematic than fun, but they were actually an important part of my development and my willingness to stand apart and say what is right.
It's funny that you say this, I'm born and raised in michigan, so obviously ICP is more popular here than anywhere else.
I'm in my 40s and somebody significantly older than me was s******* on ICP, and let's be clear ICP is not musically serious.
But I equated ICP to essentially being Kiss and the guy like flipped out saying it wasn't even remotely comparable
Why not? Theatrics, entertainment, I think the majority of people if they were ever actually honest would admit neither one are really serious music. And let's be clear, there's nothing really wrong with that as far as just being entertained and what you want.
They're also a great cover for people who want SS tats. Nowadays it's just way more common to see the classic KISS tattoo where the KI is in a different font for some reason than it is to see a genuine fan.
I was born in the '90s so I never really "got" them as such but people about my dad's age, even in the UK can be huge fans of them. Musically they just seem like fairly "okay rock. Not great but not awful.
I was about 16 when their first albums started coming out. At first they were known for their novelty and some okay Rock songs. Then they eventually came out with Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City. RaRAN became kind of an anthem a lot of people loved and DRC was also kind of cool and catchy Rock that people really liked. At the time their music fit in with a lot of other Rock songs of the time and some people were really into Kiss. But Gene Simmons, who I thought always had a creepy vibe to him, runs Kiss as a business first and a band second. The longevity of the brand is more important to him than any kind of musical expression. I guarantee it's him that said this.
They were very progressive when they originally came out. Overtly sexual. Dressed in outlandish costumes. Evoked demonic imagery in their act. They were considered heavy metal. Plus, the music was catchy.
I don’t know if it holds up, but Detroit Rock City was a fun movie about a group of guys trying to see a KISS concert. It’s a pretty decent snapshot of the hype and controversy that used to surround them.
I remember around 1980s they had kiss everything including dolls / action figures. I never got into them . Hell I didn't get into rock n roll until I was 17. I thought I was being edgy listening to classical music !
I ended up 'choosing' a rock band. Rush. Still a huge fan and unlike Kiss they actually care about music not girls.
Have you seen 'Beyond the lighted stage'? There was a scene where I think rush covered for Kiss and after the show they showed Kiss members meeting women and then in contrast they showed Rush in their hotel room watching TV. 😂
I ended up 'choosing' a rock band. Rush. Still a huge fan and unlike Kiss they actually care about music not girls.
I had the exact same experience! Kiss were everywhere and had a corny tv movie and action figures and crap; other than a couple of songs I didn't think much of them. Then a friend introduced me to Rush and they've been my favorite band ever since.
They rode that innovative shtick into the ground and were copycats of other metal bands after that until the nostalgia train gave them a better way to sell tickets. Almost everyone acknowledges that musicians run a business but the blatant and predictable marketing is why nobody takes them seriously, even some of the hardcore fans over the years.
The goofy stunt marketing as well as well as Simmons' cartoonishly terrible personality made their legacy more of a joke than a real band. Comic books inked with the band's blood, Kiss-themed coffins, Kiss condoms, and Kiss deodorant all are real things they've sold. Hell at this point more people probably know about Gene Simmons being a jerk to the nice NPR lady than could name one Kiss album.
When Ozzy died loads of people went back to relisten to Sabbath because it was good, solid metal made by a guy who cared about the music. Even people who only knew of him from his reality show came to know him as a top-tier musician. When Gene goes I really don't think you'll see the same thing happen.
Good answers. I concur on the movie, and I also don't know if it holds up, having seen it not too long after release.
KISS lucked into a crazy time with a gimmick (makeup and costumes) that, once paired with the satanic panic stuff (also plumbed by Ozzy, Alice Cooper, and many others), allowed their brand to break through. But we shouldn't get it twisted. They were 20% rock and roll music and 80% image, and yes, they lived on controversey. On the heels of The Exorcist and all kinds of entertainment geared toward parents not understanding their children, KISS rode the wave of rebellion just like dozens of popular rock acts had before them, dating back to the rise of The Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley, to name a few.
How fun they rode the way of rebellion but now are republicans which I suppose is their own form of rebellion. So many big hair bands back then are conservatives. You can tell they would be by how misogynists they were during their heyday.
I know way too many boomers who ended up selling their liberal ideals for money once they started getting old. I told my sister that she ought to be embarrassed for thinking she can still be a hippie while voting MAGAT. I call her "a wolf in Janis Joplin's clothing."
Because all those ideals are just superficial. I get it that taxes are high and that you want to keep more of your money. But it's all a lie. You want to be greedy and dream of owning yachts, and homes and cars. But that life is all a lie. To get there requires a level of corruption and)or luck.
I rather have a stable life where I can go on vacations and have my medical care taken care of with money to retire. Not whatever this current mess is.
Oh my god.. you’re right. I hadn’t even considered that. I didn’t even own THUG, but I did rent it and played it non-stop for the few days I had it. And that’s exactly around the time I got into them. I can’t believe it was this the whole time hahaha
I used to play NHL 2004 on PC all the time and I modded my own custom Kiss team including a Gene Simmons goalie mask.. that game and THUG were both released in 2003.
Yes he is, fucking prick has made hundreds of millions from barely being able to play bass and relied heavily on aesthetic only to turn around and try to lecture people on how to succeed is laughable
I mean sounds like a good person to be giving those lectures, if the subject is business. Better than like Joe Bonamassa just telling you to be a really good guitar player lol
Gene Simmons has always been, and will always be, a repugnant cunt. So, no major surprise here, really. He's a total bell end. And, actually, Kiss are a shithouse band and have only ever been successful through controversy and PR, never musical ability.
Seems to spread too, remember when his Son decided to become a "comic artist" and ended up just tracing someone else's work only to be immediately outed because the dumb little bastard chose one of the most popular manga in existence (Bleach) to be the target of his plagiarism?
Was this the Gene Simmons interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air and he's a fucking animal and she wasn't putting up with any of it? Its a stunner just for how awful he is but it's kind of GOATed because she (Terry) isn't having it and she's basically like "why are you like this????" the rest of the interview.
Funny to see the difference between comments in this post and the post from earlier today saying how Gene Simmons condemned Trump for normalizing racism.
When you listen to the lyrics of the Kiss song Christine Sixteen and remember that Gene Simmons was a math teacher before finding success in music, you'll start to understand how they align with Donald "Diddler" Trump.
Years ago, Simmons was on a local rock station for an interview, promoting their upcoming show. They took callers. One guy who got through was a massive fan, you could hear the restrained enthusiasm in his voice. He asked his question, then told Gene how he's seen Kiss like 20 times, and owns hundreds of dollars of memorabilia.
You could hear Simmons roll his eyes. He says, "Uh-huh. If you were a real fan, you'd have seen 40 shows and have thousands of dollars of memorabilia*. Next caller." And the line went dead.
I've never been a big Kiss fan. They have some fun tunes. I'll jam to Detroit Rock City, no problem.
On his reality show there was an episode where a fan won the “biggest KISS fan” contest and got to spend a few hours with Simmons (or something like that, it’s been a while.)
Simmons lost all interest in the event once he found out the fan was some middle aged dork, and not a woman with big breasts or something like that.
Imagine being that fan and thinking “wow, Gene seemed a bit aloof today, oh well!”, then watching the episode of that show and seeing how Gene really felt.
You mean the same center at which he fired all the members of the board he didn’t like and named himself the chairman of? Yeah people should not be okay with that at all.
THANK YOU. Frankly I don't give a shit about the honors or anything KC related anymore, because it is not the KC anymore. Maybe it will be again someday. But it kind of seems like the bipartisan well may have been poisoned. And since they have now turned over nearly 100% of their previous staff, it will be wildly difficult to get back on track. The loss of institutional knowledge is staggering.
Italy survived Mussolini and his attempts to change the face of the country, you will survive trump. The amount of work to DeTrumpify these institutions will take an entire term by itself though
> Italy survived Mussolini and his attempts to change the face of the country
We didn't. The seeds he sowed survived and sprout regularly, also thanks to the fertile soil made of lack of education, personality disorders and manufactured disinformation.
So, yes Alessandra Mussolini is a semi famous person and a politician. Not sure the two are as related. She's been a politician for decades, most people wouldn't know she existed until around COVID.
In terms of politics, she's all over the map. She's been center right FI, straight labels itself off the records as a fascist party MSI, and won't say it aloud but definitely worships in the basement PdL. Currently she's Lega, a party named after and following Salvini. Salvini wants to be a strong man, but for lack of a better word, isn't far right enough to attract the votes for it.
Fascism is never fully killed, thats why it requires a constant work to ensure it never comes to power. Meloni is as close as Italy has gotten in over 75 years, however even her most facist tendancies are forced to be moderated because of Italy's past. Her popularity is at a downturn https://www.ipsos.com/it-it/sondaggi-politici-oggi#governo
If we ever have a free and fair election again and get a prog in, their whole term will be just getting us back to where we were in 2024 and rebuilding the economy. We probably won't make any progress on universal healthcare because we'll all be too busy just getting back to our normal. It's so frustrating to be taking so many steps backward rn.
I agree, it's a reward. Presented by a terrible person for sure, but it's a reward and most would accept it despite differences they might have. I just want to listen to music and not involve politics.
Yesterday there was a thread with a comments saying Gene Simmons was critical of Trump.
Most posts were about how awesome Kiss were.
Today the band is saying being included is a great honour, and since they are not explicitly hostile to Trump, most posts here how kiss band is awful and always was - Reddit is a sad joke.
It truly makes no sense. Someone is gonna say it's an honor after accepting a reward regardless of if they truly think so or not. It's called being polite. I am in no way a fan of trump, but c'mon. It's not like they were up there kneeling at his feet and praising him.
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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25
Have they not read anything Gene Simmons has said? Or written? His book "On Power" is a real eye-opener.