When KISS bassist Gene Simmons saw a TV for the first time, “Superman” was playing.
Simmons, then age 8, had recently immigrated to the U.S. from Israel with his mother. They were hungry and didn’t know English, but seeing the superhero onscreen moved him.
“Clark Kent is no better than you or me, but secretly, he’s faster than a speeding bullet, and he can be Superman,” Simmons told The Desert Sun in a recent interview. “In some ways, I guess it’s a commentary on the American culture, because in Europe, you had kings and queens. Over here, the rulers are every man. ‘Of the people, for the people, by the people.'”
End of KISS, start of something new
In 2023, KISS — the hard rock band best known for hits like “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” — held its final concert at Madison Square Garden as part of the band’s End of the Road tour. The tour began in 2019 and was initially scheduled to conclude in 2021. However, it was postponed due to the pandemic, leading to additional dates that extended it to nearly five years, including a 2023 concert at Acrisure Arena.
Since the tour ended, Simmons has stayed busy with his responsibilities as co-owner of the restaurant chain Rock & Brews with KISS frontman Paul Stanley, owner of luxury vodka brand MoneyBag spirits, and producer of the recent film “Deep Water,” but he still loves touring and performing.
Nowadays, he scratches that itch — without the KISS armor and demon makeup — with The Gene Simmons Band, which also features musicians Brent Woods (guitar), Zach Throne (guitar) and Brian Tichy (drums).
“It feels great,” Simmons said of touring now. “You may as well ask a beauty queen when she’s going down the runway with her jewels and stuff, and then later that night when they go to a club and let their hair down. It’s different. KISS was a spectacle, you want to make a big deal out of yourself, and it’s all big and powerful. Doing this, I love being on stage, my band … they’re just killers. They’ve played with everybody — Billy Idol, Slash (of Guns ‘N Roses) — and every so often I can yell out ‘In the key of D,’ boom! They’re on it like crazy.”
The Gene Simmons Band will soon head to the desert for a Saturday, June 13 concert at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio.
Recent Gene Simmons Band setlists include mostly KISS songs, including some deeper cuts such as “Strange Ways” and “Rocket Ride.” The band has also covered Van Halen’s “House of Pain” and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.” Simmons said it’s challenging to build the setlists around teenagers who never had the opportunity to see KISS, and fans who saw the band several times.
“You’re kind of damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” he said. “If you play their favorite tunes, then the ones who’ve seen you a few times say, ‘Yeah, I heard that on the last end. Why don’t you play deeper cuts?’ Then, if you play deep cuts, then the ones who are seeing you for the first time say, ‘Hey, how come you didn’t do ‘God of Thunder?’ …somewhere in between playing your favorite tunes, let’s surprise you with some stuff you’ve never heard, because KISS never played ‘Rocket Ride.’”
Making headlines with the Senate Judiciary subcommittee
In December 2025, after receiving Kennedy Center Honors as part of KISS with Stanley, Simmons was invited by Republicans and Democrats to testify to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in support of the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA). The issue centers on a decades-old loophole. FM stations and streaming services pay royalties to performing artists while AM radio does not. Simmons explained that this practice goes back to World War II, when live radio musicians went overseas and those stations began playing recordings instead, which has never ended or been corrected legally.
Simmons said that this affects royalties for all artists, from Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to KISS, as well as contemporary hitmakers and emerging talents.
“AM radio (stations) last year made $14 billion, everybody got paid, the people who work at the radio stations, whose lives depend on playing the music, they can advertise on their radio stations because advertisers want to stand right alongside Taylor Swift, but everybody gets paid except Taylor Swift, or the newest bands,” Simmons said.
Next up, Songwriters Hall of Fame
In June, Simmons and Stanley will be inducted into the 2026 class of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which includes Kenny Loggins, Alanis Morissette, Taylor Swift and more. On the subject of songwriting, Simmons simplified the secret to success and said, “You still got to have the tunes.”
“It doesn’t have to be symphonic or anything. I’m a fan of Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades.’ In terms of harmonics, it’s not complex, but it’s a steamroller,” Simmons said. “Music comes in various forms. Like a John Philip Sousa song, you hear that coming through the town with a big bass drum, it makes you want to march along right in back of it, or if somebody dies, there’s that favorite tune you want to play that elicits the right emotional response.”
As a songwriter, Simmons co-wrote and produced songs for Plasmatics frontwoman Wendy O. Williams, and wrote the song “Waiting For The Morning Light” with Bob Dylan.
KISS sold toys before most bands sold T-shirts
For fans who grew up with KISS in the late 1970s and beyond, there was an abundance of merchandise available long before bands began selling t-shirts at concerts. KISS was innovative and ventured beyond traditional offerings by selling everything from action figures to comic books to pinball machines. Over the years, KISS continued to expand their merchandise line to include a KISS credit card, coffee, wine, condoms and even caskets.
But what was the best-selling item? KISS air guitar strings, a gag item featuring a clear plastic bag with nothing stapled to a card with an image of the band. He said the band made millions of them. Looking back, there is one item that excites Simmons, who described himself as “a comic book fanatic.”
“In our first comic book, I got to beat up Dr. Doom. Come on! I know Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin are cool, but I hung out with Spider-Man and I beat up Dr. Doom,” Simmons boasted.
‘I’m busier now and do more stuff than I ever did in my life’
At 76, Simmons said, “I’m busier now and do more stuff than I ever did in my life.” He mentioned upcoming film products, development-related discussions with his business partners about Rock & Brews, and more. When asked whether the Gene Simmons Band is a long-term project or could evolve into something else, he said, “I don’t know.”
“If you only had one day, what would you do? I know what I would do,” he said. “I’d get up at the crack of dawn, run out there, try to achieve something, kiss a pretty girl, give to charity, work hard, and so that at the end of your life on your gravestone it only says ‘thank you and good night.’ … Do it, and if you do it right, it makes dollars. Of course, these are semantics, but I’m not anti-semantic.”
Simmons’ approach to live music — and his appreciation for those who’ve come to watch him over the years — is perhaps best summed up by his explanation for why he keeps extra guitars onstage during live shows.
“If I see a really crazy kid in the front who screams out, ‘I can play guitar,” OK kid, come on up,” he said. “If there’s a few good-looking chicks that can sing, jump up on stage and it’s a party. It’s less about KISS and showing off. … Being in the band is more like being a garage band, we open the garage doors and everybody in town gets a chance to walk up and be like, ‘You guys do ‘Tush’ by ZZ Top?’ Key of D, let’s go, and you’re in.”
If you go
What: Gene Simmons Band concert
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13
Where: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio
Cost: Tickets $62.50 to $132.50
More info: fantasyspringsresort.com
Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: KISS icon Gene Simmons talks tour, says at 76 he’s ‘busier than ever’
Reporting by Brian Blueskye, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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