Gene Simmons

KISS BASSIST GENE SIMMONS IS A MAN OF MANY TALENTS...AND OPINIONS.

- Mark Joseph

“I can’t wait for the hate mail. Really, pardon my French, I don’t give a f***,” he tells Newsweek. And that’s all part of the persona he’s created through business ventures, films, TV, books and, of course, music. An immigrant to the U.S., he modeled his offstage persona after TV newscasters—“the best dressed, the most respected people. I wanted to be that. I didn’t want to talk or come off like the person next door. I dress like your boss.” About work, he says, “almost everybody goes to work for one thing: to make money. The idea that you have to love your job is lunacy.” And that take-it-or-leave-it attitude extends to his family. “First and foremost is to be kind. No drugs, no alcohol, no smoking.