Gene Simmons Biography

Gene Simmons of the iconic 1970's rock band Kiss intrigued the world when he entered the stage with his face painted in outrageous designs.  With the help of his fellow band members, Simmons helped to establish Kiss as one of the most notable rock bands in history.  While the name Gene Simmons sounds somewhat American, it isn't his real name.  The man that we know as Gene Simmons today was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949 in Haifa, Israel.  During this turbulent time in Israel's history, Gene's family moved to the United States when he was just 8 and settled in New York City.  Unfortunately the Jewish Holocaust in the 1940's had devastated his family, leaving only his mother Florence and an Uncle to accompany them to the U.S.  His father did survive the Holocaust, but decided to remain back in Israel when the family left.  With the absence of his father, his mother was forced to work long hours to pay the bills, leaving young Gene on his own.  It was during these difficult times that he decided that what the family needed was a great deal of money to escape the cycle of poverty and long hours.  During those early days in New York, his name was changed from Chaim Witz to Eugene Klein, which was his mother's maiden name, but it wasn't until the 1960's, that the name Gene Simmons actually emerged.

After moving to the United States and becoming interested in comics and television he developed an interest in horror films and science fiction which helped to influence his music and style.  In his quest for wealth as well as a developing love for music, Gene became interested in the Beatles, which were just making a debut in America.  As their fame exploded, this fueled Gene's passion for music and success.  At the age of 18 Gene got his first second hand guitar and joined or formed a few different bands including: The Long Island Sounds and The Missing Links.  Although music was important to him, getting a proper education also too precedence and he enrolled in college to obtain an education degree.  During his time in college as well as when he took his first job as a teacher, Gene remained active in a band called Bullfrog Bheer, playing in bars and clubs at night and on weekends and also had a short stint working at Vogue magazine.

In the early 1970's he met Paul Stanley and the two would try many different ventures, including a band called Wicked Lester.  In 1973 after many failed attempts, the two founded Kiss, landed a record deal with a young music company and released their first self-titled album.  Although another band member, Paul Stanley would take on the role of lead singer on stage, Gene would become the leader of the Kiss empire, looking after marketing and the financial side of the business.  It was their trademark make-up and armor that made them recognizable all over the United States, inspired by his earlier love for horror films.  Soon Gene would take on the nickname of “the demon”, and the band would become one of the biggest bands of the 1970's.  After releasing a number of albums, their creative manager, Bill Aucoin decided that releasing four solo albums, one by each band member would take the band to new heights of success.  Each of the four members of Kiss released an album sold under the Kiss name, but each featured only one band member, without the participation of the other members.  While Simmons and Ace Frehley both choose to stay close to the Kiss roots while other members chose to go in a different direction and eventually left the band.  The new solo albums were marketed heavily, but left fans disappointed and wanting refunds and many of these albums showed up on discount shelves all over the country.  After a movie and then performances without make-up and two new members, the popularity of the band lasted only in the 1990's, but again spiked in 1996 after a reunion with previous band members at the Grammy Awards.  Over the years several concerts and albums were released; with Gene Simmons and Paul Frehley still the driving force behind the band.

On a personal level, Gene Simmons has never been married, but has lived with his girlfriend, Shannon Tweed for many years.  Together they have a son, Nicholas and a daughter Sophie.  Gene, always known as a ladies man also had previous relationships with Cher and Diana Ross as well as claiming to have slept with an incredible amount of women in his day.  Likely due to his Jewish roots, Gene has taken a controversial stand in politics, supporting the invasion of Iraq and other policies by President George W. Bush.  In recent years Simmons has been playing in a reality series about his family called “Gene Simmons' Family Jewels,” which airs on A&E.

So much could be said of this rock star.  His long career, band achievements, his interesting personal life and his controversial political opinions all blend together to form the iconic rock star that we know today as Gene Simmons.  When looking back on his life and goals, at least we can say that he did get his wish of becoming wealthy – The goal he held since he was young.