Gene Simmons net worth is $300 Million. Also know about Gene Simmons bio, salary, height, age weight, relationship and more …

Gene Simmons Wiki Biography

Gene Simmons – Chaim Witz in Hebrew – was born on 25 August 1949 in the city of Haifa in Israel. The Israeli-born of Hungarian descent, and American-raised guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer is a rock legend and one of the world’s most renowned live performers, best known for his work with the rock band “Kiss”. Gene Simmons has found huge commercial and critical success during his time with the group, helping write and perform a number of hit singles and albums. With 100 million record sales behind them, “Kiss” has been confirmed as one of the best-selling bands in the world – and Gene Simmons has certainly had a big part in their success, and has received appropriate rewards for his work, as evidenced by his considerable net worth.

So just how rich is Gene Simmons? Sources estimate that Gene has accrued an impressive net worth of $300 million during his career in the music industry over more than 40 years,

Gene Simmons has spent most of his life in America – having lived there since his parents moved to the New York City borough of Queens, when the future rock legend was just eight years old. Simmons has been quoted attributing his decision to pursue a career in music to the legendary success of “The Beatles”, saying he was “blown away” they could perform music on such a level. Simmons’s first encounters with music and performing came when he helped found a number of bands during his teenage years – including the rock group “Wicked Lester”, which was where he met his future “Kiss” co-member Paul Stanley. Together with Stanley, Gene Simmons developed the idea of creating the greatest rock band of all time. When, in 1974, Simmons and Stanley were joined by drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley, “Kiss” was born – complete with their iconic make-up and vivid stage personalities (with Gene Simmons himself taking the role of “Demon”).

Since then, Gene Simmons has found worldwide success, both with “Kiss” and in independent projects. Always famous for their lively and enthusiastic live performances, “Kiss” rose to prominence after releasing the ‘Alive’ album recorded live on stage in 1975 – which proved a huge success. With “Kiss” earning almost $20 million between 1976 and 1978, Gene Simmons certainly benefitted from this enormous commercial success, his net worth skyrocketing. During the next 30 years, the group released 20 studio, seven live, and 13 compilation albums, as well as over 50 singles. In addition, Simmons has released seven solo albums, and at one point, run his own recording label – “Simmons Recording”, Further, he has since made numerous appearances on television, and lent his likeness to several animated shows and video games. The royalties from all these projects have contributed to Simmons’s considerable current net worth.

The rock legend, bass guitarist and vocalist owes his fortune not only to his work with “Kiss” – one of the best-selling bands of all time – but also to his appearances in various other projects. Apart from his music career, Gene Simmons has appeared on the popular American reality show “American Idol”, and on several episodes of Seth MacFarlane’s hit animated sitcom “Family Guy”.

Today, Gene Simmons lives in California together with his long-standing partner, actress and model Shannon Tweed. Despite Simmons’s earlier statements that he did not support marriage, and that he and Tweed were instead “happily unmarried”, the couple finally married in 2011. Simmons and Tweed have two children together – their son Nick, and their daughter Sophie.

IMDB Wikipedia ‘Alive’ (1975) “Best of Kiss 40” (2014) “Destroyer” (1976) “Dressed to Kill”(1975) “Dynasty” (1979) “Hotter Than Hell” (1974) “Kiss”(1974) “Lick It Up” (1983) “Love Gun” (1977) “Psycho Circus” (1998) “Revenge” (1992) “Rock and Roll Over” (1976) “Sonic Boom” (2009) “Demon”“The Beatles” “Simmons Recording” $300 Million 1949 2006 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Ace Frehley Actor August 25 Best Concert Tour and Performance (1996) Chaim Klein Witz Chaim Witz Dr. Love Entrepreneur Eugene Klein Family Guy (1999) Feri Witz Film producer Flóra Klein Gene Gene Klein Gene Simmons Gene Simmons Net Worth Gene the Nazarene Genie Guitarist Hungarian American Israel Israeli American Jewish people KISS Kiss (Since 1973) Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (“The Recording Academy”) Heroes Award Metal Edge Readers’ Choice Awards for Bend of the Year Musician Nationality Nick Simmons Paul Stanley People’s Choice Awards for Favorite New Song (1977) Peter Criss Record producer Rock Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rock music Rock Stars Seth MacFarlane Shannon Tweed Shannon Tweed (m. 2011) Simmons Singer Songwriter Sophie Simmons Teacher Television Producer The Demon Tirat Carmel Tommy Thayer Unholy United States United States of America Wicked Lester Wicked Lester (1970 – 1973)

Gene Simmons Quick Info

Gene Simmons Trademarks

1. Spits fake blood and breathes fire onstage
2. Deep voice
3. Sunglasses
4. Spike platform boots, flame-shaped afro, and spiked armor plating
5. Long tongue
6. The axe-shaped bass guitar
7. The Demon makeup worn from 1973-1983 then from 1996 to present

Gene Simmons Quotes

• David Bowie, you will be sorely missed. Bowie’s ‘Changes’ and the Ziggy story songs were a major influence for me.
• I think Shakespeare (William Shakespeare) is shit. Absolute shit! The guy may have been a genius in his time, but I can’t relate to it at all. ‘Thee, thou…’ The guy sounds like a fairy.
• People think that, in KISS, Paul and I are alike, as are Peter and Ace with each other. Bullshit. Paul and I are like black and white; there’s almost nothing we share an opinion on. I think Judge Dredd is one of the greatest movies ever made, and Paul think it’s a piece of shit. The one guy in KISS that I have much in common with would be Peter.
• That beautiful idea in religion about the meek inheriting the earth is naiveté at its highest. The strong inherit the earth; the meek inherit shit.
• Where’s the next Bob Dylan? Where’s the next Beatles (The Beatles)? Where are the songwriters? Many of them now have to work behind the scenes, to prop up acts and write their stuff for them.
• It’s very sad for new bands. My heart goes out to them. They just don’t have a chance. If you play guitar, it’s almost impossible. You’re better off not even learning how to play guitar or write songs and just singing in the shower and auditioning for The X Factor (2011).
• I have never been high or drunk in my life.
• Politicians trot out celebrities and rock stars to convince us they’re worthy of the job, and we the masses, fall for it. Shame on us. Celebrities are morons, myself included. They should stick to what they do best. Act. Sing. Or burp. But keep the candidates clean of their stains.
• I think Barack Obama is actually a good guy. He has no fucking idea what the world is like because he doesn’t have to live there.
• No karaoke singers allowed. No fake bullshit. Leave that to Rihanna-Schmianna and everybody else whose name ends with an ‘a.’
• I would urge all bands that say they only care about credibility and don’t care about money to send Gene Simmons every dollar that they don’t want. I’d be happy to take it off them.
• Some bands use a lot of tapes…U2? I’m sorry, it’s a fucking tape. The great bands like Metallica, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin – what you see and what you hear is what these people are actually playing.
• Music, marriage and religion, it’s all a business. Even God passes the hat around. It is your fiduciary duty not just to understand how to play a minor chord but how to maximize your pay.
• If someone offered me a billion dollars for the Kiss brand I wouldn’t sell. We now have 3,000 licensed products. There’s no limit to what Kiss can do. We have everything from condoms to caskets – we’ll get you coming and we’ll get you going.
• Don’t believe bands who say it’s all about the fans and they want to give their music away for free. The result is they will continue to live in their mother’s basement.
• It is time for me to grow up. I’m 62. I’ve been doing a lot of wacky stuff for an awfully long time… and there’s nobody I’ve ever said ‘I love you’ to. I even find it difficult to say ‘I love you’ to my mother. But I love Shannon with all my heart and all my soul, and always will.
• This is a privileged life. There are rewards. But at any time I could say ‘I don’t want to do this, don’t bother me’ and quit. I do it because I love it.
• The TV show, for me, is medicinal. I’m able to watch it and realize that I’m not aware how I come off. I can be short, I can be impolite, and not be aware of it, and it certainly hurts people’s feelings.
• [on touring as a family group] I think it’s good for me and good for the family. It forces [us] to confront issues that would normally be hidden. We’ve been together twenty-eight years and I don’t know of a single highway you can drive on that doesn’t have bumps in the road. Love is the answer. If you care enough about somebody, you confront those issues.
• [on pop duo “Boy Meets Girl”, aka George Merrill & Shannon Rubicam] Their worst and only mistake was actually getting married, when they already had a gorgeous little girl *and* a booming music career. Had those two just left well-enough alone, like Shannon (Tweed) and I have, they’d probably still be a couple today.
• Everyone has SOMETHING for which everybody else will gladly shell out a ton of money…whether or not they know exactly what it is.
• The best things in life are never given; they’re earned. Responsibility, for instance.
• The best you can do is set your kids on the right track; staying on it without falling is up to the kids.
• Kids should never be allowed, much less forced, to leave the nest until and unless they can fly – or, preferably, soar.
• We own some very big houses that critics have bought us with their bad reviews. Critics are an unnecessary life form. There’s a large Kiss cemetery at the back of our houses where we bury them.
• We broke Lawrence Welk’s attendance record in Abilene, Texas. I’m very proud of that.
• [on Radiohead’s plan in 2007 to let fans choose how much to pay for their new album] That’s not a business model that works. I open a store and say, ‘come on in and pay whatever you want’. Are you on fucking crack?
• You can’t argue with facts and figures. Either people want it, in which case they pay for it, or it’s two guys sitting around at the Plaza having a discussion, which means nothing. I mean, Titanic (1997). I wasn’t crazy about the movie. But you know what? I’m gonna shut up, because the people have spoken. End of story!
• [on the dismissal of his KISS band-mates Peter Criss and Ace Frehley in the early 1980s] They were let go for being into alcohol and worse drugs, pure and simple. I love both those guys to death. But I didn’t want them to die on tour.
• [on his children, Nick Simmons and Sophie Simmons] Why are they so funny and creative and charming and generous? Because I won’t stand for them being anything less, that’s why!
• Whoever said ‘Money can’t buy you love or joy’ obviously was not making enough money.
• The root of all evil isn’t money; rather, it’s not having enough money.
• Marriage is an institution, and you must be fully committed to it. That sounds crazy to me.
• [on why he was voting for George W. Bush in 2004] When you walk through a bad neighborhood, you don’t want a poodle by your side. You want a Rottweiler.
• My hero is me. Why? Because I was a poor little kid who was told, ‘Hey stupid, can’t you speak English?’ Now all those people work for me. Despite whatever circumstances I came across, I was always able to rise to the top and there’s only one way to do that – by being selfish, but also by believing in yourself. Belief is self-knowing. Even Yoda out of Star Wars said, ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’
• The first thing I did when I met Shannon Tweed, or Cher, was say: ‘Here, there are no skeletons in Gene Simmons’s closet.’ I refuse to lead a Dr Jekyll-and-Mr Hyde life. There are DJs who get caught with prostitutes, MPs with stockings on their head. It’s a waste of time. Just say, ‘This is who I am. Take it or leave it’. Then you sleep well.
• When I’m gone, on my tombstone I’d like ‘Thank you and goodnight’, because I have no regrets. The sad thing is most people have to check with someone before they do the things that make them happy. We’re all passing through; the least we can do is be happy, and the only way to do that is by being selfish.
• Anyone who tells you they got into rock n’ roll for reasons other than girls, fame and money is full of shit.
• Walk amongst the natives by day, but in your heart be Superman.
• It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.

Gene Simmons Important Facts

• Attended a Beverly Hills fundraiser for the Israeli Defense Forces. (6 November 2015).
• Found out after his father died in 2002 that he had 3 half sisters: Drora, Ogenia and Sharon; and one half brother Kobi.
• Brother-in-law of Tracy Tweed.
• During an interview on William Shatner’s Shatner’s Raw Nerve (2008), Gene revealed how he and Paul Stanley came up with the name KISS. They knew they wanted a band name that was short, blunt, and stood out. For a while, they played with the notion of calling their band “Fuck” with the idea that each record album they made would have a title with a variation of the word (i.e.: Fuck You, Fuck Off, Fuck Me, Fuck Him, etc.) But, then, they realized they would never get signed to a record deal with that kind of a name, so Paul Stanley came up with “KISS” instead.
• At the height of their popularity in the 70’s, various right-wing Christian groups, who often demonized rock-n-roll as “the devil’s music”, claimed that “KISS” stood for “Knights In Satan’s Service”.
• According to the KISS band members on VH1’s Behind the Music (1997), their garish costumes (created from various S&M sex gear) and make-up was born out of their mutual love of comic books and sci-fi/horror films. According to Gene, each member (Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and himself) fashioned their stage characters from their own personalities. Gene loved horror films and chose “The Demon” as his persona. Paul Stanley always dreamed of being a stage star and became “Star-Child”. Ace Frehley loved science fiction and chose the “Space Ace” persona. And Peter Criss’ “Cat Man” character was a reference to his growing up in a rough neighborhood (He quipped “I had nine lives like a cat just make it out of there”). Gene says that Ace Frehley was the one who drew the KISS logo.
• A customized electric bass guitar – the “Gene Simmons Axe Bass” – was especially created for him by South Korean giant Cort. The body of the instrument is shaped like the head of an axe with the neck affecting the “handle”.
• KISS was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
• Lives in Beverly Hills, California.
• Grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens.
• Good friends with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.
• In his autobiography Kiss and Makeup, said that his mother is primarily the reason why he has never used drugs. He decided years ago that she’d already been through enough having survived the horrors of the Holocaust, and he didn’t want to break her heart by becoming a drug addict.
• Prides himself on living his life like an open book. Said that when he gets into a relationship with a woman, one of the first things he does is show her his infamous book, which contains photos of the countless women he’s been with. This is done so that a prospective girlfriend sees what he’s about and so that there are no secrets from his side of the relationship.
• Before forming KISS, he played in bands called Cathedral, Bullfrog Beer, Coffee, The Long Island Sounds, and Wicked Lester. This last one had another future KISS member, Paul Stanley.
• Was offered the role of Nick Hurley in Flashdance, but turned it down due to his agenda with KISS.
• Speaks Hungarian, Hebrew, High German, Japanese and, of course, English.
• He has a business partner named Rich Abramson. Their company is known as Simmons Abramson Marketing.
• Taught 6th grade at PS 75 in Spanish Harlem.
• Earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Richmond College in Staten Island, New York.
• Simmons, in terms of political views, describes himself as neither Democrat nor Republican, but voting based on the issues. While he supports a woman’s right to abortion, the environment and church/state separation, he supported Bush in 2004 because he agreed with Bush’s foreign policy stands.
• Is one of the top fire-breathers in the world. The world record is a 27 feet flame. Gene can hit 15 feet.
• His famous tongue has been measured at over 7 inches long.
• Once said he bought a ticket to one of his own shows, then walked in completely out of makeup and character, and took his seat. Nobody knew who he was.
• Is “The Demon” in the hard rock band, KISS.
• He has one non-negotiable condition for anyone interested in signing with his record label Simmons Records: No Drugs.
• Even though his father left the family when Simmons was a child, once he became rich he felt an obligation to buy both of his parents homes and provide them with financially worry-free lifestyles.
• He is the son of Hungarian Jews. His mother, Florence, is a Holocaust survivor. In his book “Sex Money KISS”, Simmons wrote that his grandmother willingly went into a gas chamber with his great-grandmother because she didn’t want her mother to have to die alone. Simmons’ mother is the only member of her entire family to survive the Holocaust. She managed to survive partly due to her skills as a hairdresser (a wife of one of the Nazi German officer liked how she did hair and had her kept around to be her hairstylist).
• When Simmons’ came to America, his name was changed from Chaim Witz to Gene Klein. He later decided to use “Gene Simmons” for professional purposes.
• Is the founder of Simmons Publishing, which publishes books and magazines.
• Once played in a band called Cathedral, several years before forming KISS. Among the names the band considered before settling on KISS in 1973 were Albatross, The Crimson Harpoon and F**k. Paul Stanley was the band member who suggested KISS.
• Has never drank alcohol, used drugs or smoked
• Claims to have slept with over 4,600 women.
• Gave Elijah Allman (Cher’s son) his first guitar at age 11.
• With KISS no longer occupying his time, Gene has a number of ventures he’s turned to: resurrecting his record label, $immons Records, acting in and producing feature films, starting up his own Women of Wrestling league (with a W.O.W. magazine and clothing line to follow), creating his own radio talk show, and possibly even going on the lecture circuit.
• Launches fashion label, “Gene Simmons – Dragonfly” [August 2002]
• Publisher of the magazine ‘Tongue’ since late 2001. Is currently working on a KISS brand of condoms, among other things. Most of his post-KISS career will be concentrated on producing feature films and creating new KISS merchandise.
• Discovered Van Halen in 1977 and produced the demo that got them signed to Warner Brothers Records. Unfortunately, Simmons had to release them from their contract when he couldn’t convince anyone at WB of the band’s potential. Bill Aucoin, then-manager of KISS, told Simmons he didn’t think Van Halen would have any commercial success (Van Halen’s debut self-titled album went platinum, and their famous 1984 album has sold more than 10 million copies and has been certified diamond).
• Produced many acts in the 1980s, including Keel, Wendy O. Williams, “EZO” and “Black and Blue”.
• There is a KISS tribute band in Seattle called Gene’s Addiction.
• Designer of the axe shaped bass guitar.
• Once considered becoming a rabbi.
• Was once in a band called “Bullfrog Beer”. Other pre-KISS bands he was a member of included “Coffee”, “the Long Island Sounds”, and “Wicked Lester” (with Paul Stanley).
• Edward Van Halen once begged Gene and Paul Stanley to let him join KISS, during a time when his band, Van Halen, was having problems. Van Halen played guitar in a session for KISS, and, according to Simmons, impressed them with his use of synthesizers. Simmons eventually told Van Halen that despite his feelings about working with David Lee Roth, he should stick things out since his musical abilities would never be fully recognized within KISS’ style.
• Has a son, Nick Simmons (b. 1989), and a daughter, Sophie Simmons (b. 1992), with Shannon Tweed.
• Has lived with model/actress Shannon Tweed since 1986, but didn’t marry until 2011. Simmons had previously said that while he respects the rights of those who choose to marry, it’s not something he ever planned to do; specifically, he doesn’t feel man by nature is meant to be in a monogamous relationship. “The only thing wrong with marriage is that one of the persons involved is a man,” he often says.
• Lived with Cher for several years.
• Prior to forming KISS, Gene Simmons was an elementary school teacher.
• Co-founder of the famous hard-rock group, KISS, famous for outrageous antics and kabuki-like make-up.

Gene Simmons Filmography

Gene Simmons Awards