“Oh my goodness! It’s so rousing! Especially the end!”: The soundtrack of Gene Simmons’ life

Gene Simmons is the living, fire-breathing embodiment of the American Dream: the immigrant who found fame and fortune, in his case as co-leader of rock superstars Kiss. But when he talks about the music he loves, he is very much the Anglophile. 

“For me, England is holy ground,” he says. “The Beatles changed life on Earth! And then you had the Stones, The Who, Queen and so on.” He feels that the cultural exchange between the US and the UK was uneven. “You guys gave us Led Zeppelin, and we gave you the Grateful fucking Dead!” But there is some American music he holds dear. Surprisingly, the God Of Thunder is also a soul boy at heart.

The first music I remember hearing

It was black music. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, James Brown, Ray Charles – all the greats. When I moved to America with my mother, I was eight and I couldn’t speak a word of English. So I didn’t understand the words in songs like Good Golly Miss Molly: ‘She sure likes to ball’ – you know, she likes to fuck! I didn’t know that the term ‘rock’n’roll’ meant sex. I was just moved by this music, even though I didn’t know how to dance.

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The first song I performed in front of an audience

When I was thirteen I had a school buddy, Seth Dogramajian, who played guitar and we’d sing harmony like the Everly Brothers. We called ourselves the Missing Links. Our first performance was at Joseph Pulitzer Junior High School in Jackson Heights, Queens, and I think the first song was a Beatles song, There’s A Place.

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The songwriter

It’s either Lennon or McCartney. Because for every Eleanor Rigby, every Yesterday, you had Across The Universe, which is haunting like no other song I’ve ever heard. Even a song that Lennon wasn’t fond of, And Your Bird Can Sing, nobody has ever sounded like that before or after. So many great songs. It’s incredible. And let’s not forget George Harrison. He was supposed to be less talented because he didn’t write All You Need Is Love and all those other hits. But then he came up with While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something and Here Comes The Sun. So it’s like: “Oh, that guy’s a genius too!”

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The singer

Roy Orbison had the best voice for rock’n’roll songs. But if you listen to Baby Workout by Jackie Wilson, that voice is just undeniable. And if we’re talking about charisma – not just a singer but a performer – then it’s James Brown. I remember a TV show from the sixties that had the Stones and The Beach Boys and James Brown. The Stones were closing the show, and while James Brown was on stage there was a close-up of Mick Jagger watching him and biting his nails. James Brown was just killing it like nobody I’ve ever seen. It was astonishing how he moved, the way he was contorting his body

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The guitar hero

There’s Jeff Beck and there’s Hendrix, and then there’s Eddie Van Halen, who made my head turn like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Like: “What the fuck is that?” Certainly the people that changed guitar playing were Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen. But I think they all looked up to Beck as the guv’nor. And yet who came up with the most riffs? It’s Jimmy Page. Nobody else comes close.

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The greatest album of all time

My first thought is Sgt. Pepper, but I could also pick one of Stevie Wonder’s classic records, say Innervisions. When you think about talent, Stevie Wonder can do it all: songwriting, arranging, singing, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums. Oh, and I forgot to mention he’s blind!

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The best record I’ve made

In hindsight, Kiss never really spent enough time in the studio. Destroyer is okay, and I like Revenge, but Kiss was always more about the live experience.

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The worst record I’ve made

Music From ‘The Elder’. I take the blame for it, because it was my idea. I remember telling [producer] Bob Ezrin that I was writing a movie script, we were making a concept album based on that, and he said: “Let’s do our own Tommy!” I said: “Yeah. If The Who can do it, why can’t we?” Well, the straight answer is because we’re not The Who! There are some fans who love that record. To me it was dishonest. But really, the most dishonest record we ever made was Carnival Of Souls, when we were trying to follow a trend instead of just being ourselves.

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My Saturday night party song

If you’re in a place where there’s lots of girls, it’s Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back.

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My ‘in the mood for love’ song

Jeff Beck doing Nessun Dorma. Oh my goodness! It’s so rousing, especially the end. It’s grand – and what we’re about to do is grand!

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The song that makes me cry

Generally speaking, the more emotional songs, the ones that get me teary-eyed, are by black singers. Luther Vandross had this song Dance With My Father, with all the memories he had as a little kid. And when you hear Ray Charles singing Georgia On My Mind, you feel the longing.

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The song I want played at my funeral

I’ve had the most amazing life, so I don’t want people to be sad. I want them to have a party. Just pop that champagne and have a good time. So play Baby Workout by Jackie Wilson and everybody dance. Don’t mourn the death, celebrate the life!

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath – of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”