KISS' Gene Simmons Fires Back At Fans Accusing Him Of Being Greedy: "Get Out Of Your Loser’s Mentality, And Try To Win In Life, Every Day"

While the music of hard rock legends KISS continues to endure, their sonic output & iconic imagery is only part of their legacy. The Rock & Roll Hall Of Famers have been notorious over the years for leveraging all facets of the band for economic gain. Be it years of never-ending farewell touring, merchandising everything from the Kiss Kasket — which late Pantera, etc. legend Dimebag Darrell Abbott was buried in — to an empty bag of KISS air guitar strings, a video game, and more, few opportunities to earn a buck have went unexplored for the band.

Even the end of their latest retirement tour saw the group sell their likenesses, as well as their royalties and more with the intention for their ‘live’ shows to continue on with the band appearing as digital avatars. While that sale followed what was once again billed as the end of their touring career, an unmasked version of KISS have since returned to the stage to perform live.

After sharing a video promoting an upcoming disaster film titled ‘Deep Water‘ from director Renny Harlin yesterday, April 04th, KISS bassist/vocalist Simmons wound up taking part in an impromptu fan Q&A on X. Some presumed the video to be a paid plug for the film, with the brief clip finding Simmons stating he intended to attend some screenings of the film unannounced to take it in with fans.

The video led to Simmons facing accusations of greed head-on, as he fired back directly at fan criticisms with his characteristically frank responses. When a fan replied “Don’t you have ENOUGH money yet Gene???” to Simmons‘ aforementioned video promoting the film, Simmons responded:

“This is a loser’s question. Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk all get up every day and try to make more. No matter how much they’ve got. Get out of your losers’s mentality, and try to win in life, every day.”

When another user questioned “Why can’t people just stop, retire and have some dignity…” in reference to Simmons‘ video, he replied, “Retire? And do what?” In response to an X user asking, “Why does making more equal to winning in life?”, Simmons replied:

“Because by earning more, you create more jobs, by spending more money, which provides other people with being able to support their families. Without earning more, you can’t even give to charity, much less support your family.”

One user went on to offer up the following reply in the thread, “Old men facing impending death like Gene Simmons hoard wealth and relate with other old men that do the same as compensation. You can’t take it with you Gene.” Simmons fired back:

“…You’re a jealous loser. You don’t understand, sadly. That was this do some research and find out why the richest and most powerful people on the planet, continue to work hard to try to make more, so they can give more and create more.”

Simmons also reacted to another criticism directed his way that read, “So youre a loser because all you love is money? Wow, no wonder you sold your soul for money and you’ll rot away as a band that held on so long that your reputation will be nothing for the rest of human history.” Simmons‘ response read:

“Timmy, i’ve paid more than $100 million in taxes. I’ve created thousands of jobs, which enabled thousands of people to feed their families. I’ve contributed millions to wounded warriors, pediatric aids and support 1400 African children. And what have you accomplished in life?”

Some additional exchanges from yesterday’s thread can be found below: