Kiss’ Gene Simmons’ On Prince: “How Pathetic That He Killed Himself” (Updated)

Update – May 10th 10:35pm:

Gene Simmons has now apologized for his original comments, offering the following statement through Twitter:

“I just got such shit from my family for my big mouth again. I apologize – I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts. I get angry at drug users because of my experience being around them coming up in the rock scene. In my experience they’ve made my life, and the lives of their loved ones, difficult. I was raised in a culture/crowd where drug addicts were written off as losers, and since that’s the narrative I grew up with, it’s been hard to change with the times. Needless to say, I didn’t express myself properly here – I don’t shy away from controversy, and angry critics really don’t bother me at all. If I think I’m right, I’ll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time, I was not. So, my apologies.

PS
What I will say is that there is part of this that is journalists quote-mining things I’ve said in the past and applying it to new situations. This, too, happens often, and not just to me. So, quote mining, too, is wrong. It doesn’t make my past quotes any more tactful, but still – be wary of click bait. The uglier they can make it seem, the more views they will get.”

Original Story:

Kiss‘ Gene Simmons is known, among other things, to be outspoken on just about anything. When asked of what he thought about the recent passing of musical icon Prince, he was bluntly honest in his assessment, telling Newsweek:

“I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them. I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don’t kid yourself, that’s what he did. Slowly, I’ll grant you… but that’s what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death.”

Simmons would of course be referring to the mounting evidence that Prince’s passing was related to prescription drugs. Simmons also weighed in on the trend of celebrities passing before their time and how it impacts their legacy:

“…Your legacy becomes even bigger, you become more iconic, if you die before your time—Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and all that. They capture the youth.

It is less iconic… at some point my hair and teeth are gonna fall out, at some point you’ll see pathetic Gene Simmons at 80 years old with a colostomy bag and a wheelchair—I’ll grant you it’ll be a studded wheelchair and I’ll have a hot nurse wheeling me around—but at that point the imagery doesn’t connect with young Elvis or Marilyn Monroe. If you die before your time it adds to your iconic nature. But I’m not willing to do that—sorry. I really enjoy getting up every day. If it means at the end I become a pathetic version of what I am, so be it. My gravestone will not say: ‘I wish I woulda, shoulda, coulda.’”

He also further addressed his controversial opinion that rock and roll is dead, once again voicing his support for pop and EDM:

“Everything has to evolve or become extinct. The pop stuff is phenomenal. Max Martin and all that—really great. If Lady Gaga got rid of the disco boys and sent them back to Las Vegas to get back on the poles where they belong, and dropped all the backing tracks, and put together a real rock band, she actually has the pipes and musical ability to rock out. She could be a modern Janis Joplin. Look what she did with Tony Bennett—really phenomenal. She could do what Madonna, Britney and Rihanna can’t.

J.Lo, Beyoncé and all that stuff, when there’s 50 percent or more of backing track, it’s dishonest. When you buy food it tells you if it’s got 50 percent sugar, 10 percent this. At least have the honesty to respect your fans: ‘You’re buying a $150 ticket, at least 50 percent of the music you’re going to hear is not live.’ Say it. At least then you’ll have the integrity.

That’s why I love EDM—electronic dance music doesn’t pretend to be live. It’s just a guy who presses a button. There’s a big light show and everyone has a great time. Fantastic. I find EDM honest. I find pop music, although it’s well done, is the place for producers and writers in the studio. Live, it’s patently dishonest—lipsyncing, disco boys and all that, it’s just dishonest.”

For more on that, his softened views on the death of rap and more, head to Newsweek.