Gene Simmons has compared collaborating with Bob Dylan to winning the lottery.
The Kiss rocker and the legendary singer/songwriter penned the track ‘Waiting For The Morning Light’ in 1991, and it was later released on the ‘Crazy Nights’ hitmaker’s 2004 solo record ”A*****e’.
The 68-year-old shock rocker says that it was a matter of luck that he got to work with Dylan, 76, and recalled how after contacting his manager to ask to speak to the ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ hitmaker, he turned up outside his home two days later, and the rest is history.
Appearing on ‘The Pulse Of Radio’ recently, Simmons said: “Everybody buys lottery tickets.
“What are their chances of winning? Not much.
“So what? There is a chance you can win, and I’m like that. So I called his manager: ‘Can I speak with Bob?’ ‘What do you wanna talk to him about?’ ‘I … I wanna write a song with Bob.’
“[Laughs] And all of a sudden within two days, an unmarked van shows up at my house and Bob gets out with an acoustic guitar in his hand, and tells his driver, ‘I’ll see you at the end of the day,’ comes up and we start strumming. I mean it was just like that.”
Simmons released ‘Gene Simmons – The Vault Experience: 1966-2016’ last year, which includes a never-heard-before 15-minute clip of him in the studio with Dylan.
The ‘Lick It Up’ singer says getting to discuss how we writes music with the ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ star will forever be a career “highlight”.
Recalling their time working together, he said: “He was asking me – and that’s in the box set – ‘So, how do you write songs?’ ‘Well, y’know, I write stuff and Paul (Stanley) comes up with stuff. . .
“He goes, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then the other guys play it?’
“I go, ‘Well, I usually tell ’em what parts to play’ – he goes: ‘You do?’ (Laughs) I couldn’t believe I was having this discussion. Yeah, we were talking about how we write songs, and it’s still a life highlight.”