Paul Elliott | Team Rock

Gene Simmons – bassist/vocalist for Kiss, TV personality, multi-millionaire entrepreneur – is the living embodiment of the American Dream. An only child, he was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel. Eight years later, after his parents separated, his mother Flora took him to live in New York City, where, in 1973, he and Paul Stanley co-founded Kiss. Simmons and Stanley have led the band throughout their career, selling more than 100 million albums.

Simmons now lives in California with his wife Shannon Tweed and their children Nick and Sophie – all stars of the hit US reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

What are the best and worst things about being Gene Simmons?

Without sounding too cocky – although I’ve certainly been accused of that all my life – there is no negative to being Gene Simmons. You have to look at it relatively: it’s either this or flipping burgers. What’s the English equivalent, frying chips? What’s so bad about being rich and famous? I don’t understand what all the angst is all about. The only people who should have complaints are the unfortunate poor on the planet. But when you hear the ultra-rich saying: “Oh, it’s so lonely at the top,” what a load of shit. If you can’t deal with fame, don’t be famous. I have nothing to complain about.

What are your tips for pleasing a woman?

Well, the tip that God gave me is the most important one.

What’s your best lyrical innuendo?

‘When love rears its head I wanna get on your case/ I wanna put my log in your fireplace’ [Kiss’s Burn Bitch Burn].

Can you put a figure on your personal fortune?

A round number, yeah. But I remember when I was a little boy and I read that somebody was a millionaire, and I couldn’t grasp the idea. All I knew was they were rich. So when the rich and powerful actually start throwing around figures, it seems beside the point. It seems like it’s showing off too much.

You do enjoy showing off, though.

Not the riches. Showing off my brain and my talent, my capacity for making riches, yes.

Have you considered a career in politics?

They don’t pay enough. And democracy, although it’s a wonderful idea on paper, is not the most effective form of government. The most effective, in the main, is a benevolent dictatorship. I want the police to have baseball bats, and when they find a graffiti artist to beat the shit out of them. If you put me in charge, there will hardly be any drug addicts. Certainly there won’t be any drug dealers, because the dealers will be dead.