Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American musician with the stage name “The Demon”. He was the co-lead singer and bassist of the hard rock band Kiss. He co-founded the band with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Chris in the early 70s. They retired from the band in 2023. In 2014, Simmons was inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame as a member of Kiss.Simmons also has other interests apart from music. He pursued interests in Fashion, publishing and acting. Also, he starred in the A&E reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
| Gender | Male |
| Date of birth | August 25, 1949 |
| Age | 74 years (as of March 2024) |
| Full name | Gene Simmons |
| Place of birth | Haifa, Israel |
| Current residence | Los Angeles |
| Nationality | Israel-American |
| Ethnicity | Jew |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Children | 2 |
| Height | 185 cm |
| Weight | 85kg |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Profession | Singer |
| Instagram handle | @genesimmons |
Gene Simmons Biography
He was born in Haifa, Israel on August 25, 1949. He was born to jewish refugees from Hungary. His father, Ferenc “Feri” Yehiel Witz, was a carpenter and his mother is Florence Klein. He grew up in a typical jewish household and said he was dirt poor. He and his mother later migrated to Queens, New York when he was 8. His father remained in Israel and gave birth to four other children with another woman.
Gene adopted his mother’s maiden name “Klein” in New York at age 9. He went on to attend high school, Richmond College and Sullivan County Community College, in New York. There he practised with the guitar and chose a stage name, Jumpin’ Gene Simmons. The Beatles were his role model, he said “There is no way I’d be doing what I do now if it wasn’t for the Beatles. I was watching The Ed Sullivan Show and I saw them. Those skinny little boys, kind of androgynous, with long hair like girls. It blew me away that these four boys [from] the middle of nowhere could make that music.”
Gene Simmons Wife and Personal life
Gene is married to Shannon Lee Tweed, former Playboy playmate. They dated for 28 years before getting married. The union produced two children; Nick, born in January 22, 1989, and Sophie, born in July 7, 1992.
Gene Simmons Career
Gene joined his first band, Lynx, and renamed it The Missing Links. He did this when he was a teenager. He eventually disbanded the band to form The Long Island Sounds. The name was inspired by Long Island from Westchester County, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York, he joined a new band, Bullfrog Bheer, and recorded the demo “Leeta.” Leeta was later included on the Kiss box set.
Gene formed the band “Wicked Lester” in the early 1970s with Stanley Harvey Eisen (now known as Paul Stanley). They recorded only an album, which was never released. Simmons and Stanley attempted to fire their band members because they were dissatisfied with Wicked Lester’s sound and outlook. Their band members resisted, and Gene & Stanley quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They decided to form another rock band and looked for a drummer.
Simmons and Stanley found an ad placed by George Criscoula, known as Peter Criss, who was playing clubs in Brooklyn at the time; they joined and started out as a trio. Paul Frehley, better known as Ace Frehley, responded to an advert 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 the band’s fame was waning, the musicians took off their trademark make-up and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that continued into the 1990s. Also, the band hosted their own fan conventions throughout 1995. The fan feedback about the original Kiss members reunion influenced the highly successful 1996-1997 Alive Worldwide reunion tour. Furthermore, In 1998, the band released Psycho Circus, the 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 through 1996) replacing Peter Criss on drums.
Gene Simmons Networth
Gene Simmons has an estimated net worth of $410 million dollars in 2023. This he garnered from his years of performing as a rock band musician, host of reality television shows, publishing books and acting.
