Gene Simmons

[Bill]

From VH1.com bio:

Although Gene Simmons found fame as a blood-spurting, fire-breathing, bass-playing demon with Kiss, his early years were about as far removed as you can possibly get from the notorious heavy metal band. Born August 25, 1949, and named Chaim Witz, he and his mother left Israel by the late '50s, relocating to the United States (New York City, to be exact). Witz's name was then changed to Gene Klein, as he discovered comic books and rock & roll soon after (he was even being groomed to be a rabbi at one point). As a teenager, he played bass in a number of New York-area bands (Long Island Sounds, etc.), and while in his early 20s, even tried his hand at teaching grade school. His teaching career was short-lived, as he meet another young rock & roll hopeful around this time: Stanley Eisen.

Together, the duo formed their first band together, Wicked Lester, who borrowed heavily from their heroes, the Beatles, and just about any other hip musical style at the moment. The band recorded an album that never saw the light of day, but while in the band, the two first came up with the idea of putting on a real show for the audience: makeup, costumes, and a grand stage show. They eventually hooked up with two other New Yorkers, Peter Criscoula and Paul Frehley. All the members changed their names (Eisen became Paul Stanley; Criscoula to Peter Criss; Frehley to Ace Frehley; and Klein was re-christened Gene Simmons), and assumed identities relating to their personalities. Kiss then became one of the top hard rock acts of the 70s and beyond.

While Kiss' fame was sky-rocketing, Simmons tried his hand at another facet of the music biz: scouting up-and-coming talent. He tried to convince Kiss' manager to sign a young California band called Mammoth in the mid-'70s, who eventually renamed themselves Van Halen. Simmons' pleas fell on deaf ears, but the event sowed the seeds for Simmons launching his own record company (albeit short-lived) in the '80s, Simmons Records, as well as briefly managing Liza Minnelli. In addition to his work with Kiss, Simmons has tried his hand at acting on the big screen with varying degrees of success; Runaway, Trick Or Treat, Wanted: Dead Or Alive, and Never Too Young to Die are just some of the films he's appeared in. Simmons is also a shrewd businessman, often credited as the main force behind turning Kiss into a mega-dollar-generating, merchandising machine (look no further than Kiss' top-grossing 1996-1997 reunion tour).

With Kiss announcing their Farewell Tour in 2000, some assumed that it would be the last the public would hear from Simmons and company. But this proved hardly to be the case, as the band toured the world (off and on) for the next few years. Meanwhile, Simmons became involved in numerous projects: including penning an autobiography (2001's Kiss & Make-Up), creating his own magazine (Gene Simmons' Tongue), developing his own clothing line ("Gene Simmons' Dragonfly"), hosting the TV show Hit Men, and was in discussions for re-launching his Simmons Records label, his acting career, and starting up his own TV talk show (The Gene Simmons Show). Simmons took a break from farewell tours in 2004 and released his second solo album, ***HOLE, on the Sanctuary label. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

[Google]

 

[totoro]

You gotta love Gene. I think at the very least, he will have built up the self esteem of at least one of these kids before he leaves. He has a good sense of humor, and I like how he is interacting rather than just doing. Plus...that tongue is mesmerizing.... I kid, I kid.

[video]

i just cant stand his arrogance

[paulvons]

I'm waiting to see if he shows up to class one day in the old outfit and makeup. Thanks

[Mdrio9]

In the trailer for next week, it seems like he denied sleeping with 1600 (or whatever the amount was) women in his lifetime. I thought it was true though...at least that he's slept with a ton of women. Or, was his denial kind of sarcastic?

[Toasteroven1973]

Any rockstar could sleep with 1000 women. There are that many groupies throwing themselves at you. To actually do it is pathectic not to mention super un-safe.

[Critical]

Originally Posted by Mdrio9

In the trailer for next week, it seems like he denied sleeping with 1600 (or whatever the amount was) women in his lifetime. I thought it was true though...at least that he's slept with a ton of women. Or, was his denial kind of sarcastic?

I didn't think he was denying it at all. What I heard was the kid saying that Gene "claimed" to have slept with over 1600 women. Gene objected to the word "claimed."

Sleeping with that many people does make him a bit of a human petri dish but remember - the majority of those women were back in the 70's and early 80's when all you had to worry about were pregnancy and "The Clap" (yes, I know HIV was a concern in the early 80's, but not many people realized it). I'm sure Gene's numbers have dwindled quite a bit

[SnowflakeGirl]

I haven't seen much of this show (I saw precisely 5 minutes of one episode), but I have seen Gene Simmons in person. He was bringing his family to a movie screening, and I was really impressed with how sweet and loving he appeared to be with his children. Based on that, I'd imagine that he actually relates to kids pretty well; how has he been with those on the show?

[lei]

gene may be an arrogant pig but he's an extremely effective teacher. emperor is a god unleashed. and this is my new favorite reality tv show. rock and roll!!!!!

[Critical]

Originally Posted by SnowflakeGirl

I haven't seen much of this show (I saw precisely 5 minutes of one episode), but I have seen Gene Simmons in person. He was bringing his family to a movie screening, and I was really impressed with how sweet and loving he appeared to be with his children. Based on that, I'd imagine that he actually relates to kids pretty well; how has he been with those on the show?

Snowy, I think he's doing really well with the kids He seems to be able to relate to them on their level - or at least on the level of normal kids that age, so pretty close to their level. He also looks like he's having fun with them and enjoys being around them.

On a completely unrelated note: even though he's up there in years, I'm impressed by how good his teeth look. They're probably veneers or implants or something, but still - Nice choppers!