LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 04: Gene Simmons of Kiss performs onstage at Staples Center on March 04, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for ABA)
After Diane Warren, Gene Simmons was the next one to express his disappointment over Rolling Stone’s very controversial “200 Greatest Singers of All-Time” list.
The infamous ranking had united netizens online over their frustrations upon finding out that several singers and music icons were left out of the list, most particularly Celine Dion.
Dion, who was well revered in the entertainment industry as one of the biggest voices of the past three decades, has been left out of the all-time ranking.
Simmons, who was cornered by TMZ for a comment about the list, did not hold his words down and gave his honest take on it.
The list left out music icons like Cher, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Nat King Cole, Dion, and even Simmons, who was wildly popular and tremendous as KISS’ lead singer.
For Simmons, the whole list was “skewed” and often one-sided.
“How well you sing is not the most important thing. Is do you have style? Do you have a fingerprint that says: ‘I know that voice!’ immediately,” he furthered.Asked what he thought of Ozzy Osbourne’s placement on the list, which only ranked No. 112, Simmons described the deed as a “crime.”
“Look, if somebody sits in the backroom, Jann Wenner, or those guys: they sit in the backroom and decide things. Nobody asked me, nobody asked you,” Simmons reflected.
When he was asked where did he think he placed on the list, Simmons said he “don’t give a f—k.”
“If you got success, that’s enough,” Simmons advised. “Accolades and all that you get that when you get a concert or what fans come up. That’s the best thing. To be on a poll on a magazine by the people on the back room, I don’t know what that means.”
Meanwhile, outrage concerning Dion’s snub on the list has escalated as Celine Dion fans rushed from Montreal, Canada, to New York City in front of Rolling Stone’s headquarters.
Members of The Red Heads, a devoted circle of fans of the “My Heart Will Go On” singer, have stormed the magazine’s office, voicing out their disappointment and frustration with Dion’s exclusion.
“The list is completely illegitimate,” one of the fans said, as quoted by Variety. “We wanted to support her and make sure that Rolling Stone hears the voice of the fans. The list is ridiculous. No Madonna, no Celine. They’re clearly focused on American singers and we don’t understand.”