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Gene Simmons says he’s “always been an outcast” in rock ‘n’ roll circles because he doesn’t drink or do drugs
“Just by observation, I’ve never seen anybody drunk be witty or intelligent. Have you?”
Credit: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images
Gene Simmons says over the course of his career he’s seen himself as an “outcast” as many of his contemporaries were heavily into drugs and alcohol when he was not.
In a new interview with Backstage Pass [transcribed by Blabbermouth], Simmons discusses the drug and alcohol issues that led to feuds with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
He says that he’s “sad in retrospect” that he wasn’t “more hard” on Frehley and Criss over their substance abuse.
“I’d never been high or drunk and never smoked cigarettes, so I’ve always been an outcast in that way. The rest of the world seemed to be drug-fuelled,” Simmons says, apparently referencing Frehley and Criss.
“Ace and Peter… have as much credit for the beginning of the band as Paul [Stanley] and I do. There’s no question it was that chemistry. And they both had unique voices, unique personalities and all that. And they should have been here with us 50 or 55 years later and enjoying the fruits of their labour. But sadly, they’re not.
“And it’s their own doing. They were in and out of the band three different times. They were let go three different times because of the same old thing. It’s not even unique. Go to almost every band [and] you’ll find people ingesting stuff more than the bum on the street corner, except they’re richer and they can afford to ingest more. It’s sad.”
On how he’s managed to largely steer clear of substances despite being a globe-renowned rockstar for decades, Simmons goes on: “Just by observation, I’ve never seen anybody drunk be witty or intelligent. Have you? And people who are high sound like aliens. And people who smoke stink like ashtrays.
“Look, I can understand if smoking or drinking or getting high would make you smarter, richer, made your schmeckel bigger, made you more attractive – all those things that we all wish we had… But nothing happens, really. In fact, you’ll probably throw up on the shoes your girlfriend just bought. You won’t be witty. The next day your head will hurt, and if you drink enough, your schmeckel is not gonna work. So I don’t get it.
“I remember when I was 13, 14, I used to go to these teenage parties where 16-year-olds would gather because I was always bigger, so they’d invite me,” Simmons recalled. “They’d think I was older. And like a vulture on the side, I’d just wait for the guys to get drunk and then just swoop in and take any girl I wanted.”
Kiss said a final farewell at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in December, but are planning to go on as ABBA-style holograms, though these won’t arrive for several years.