He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the early 1970s until their retirement in 2023.

Simmons was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish refugees from Hungary.

Simmons' father, Ferenc "Feri" Yehiel Witz (1925–2002), was a carpenter whom Klein married in 1946 and the couple moved to Israel the following year.

A proficient typist, he served as an assistant to an editor of Vogue, and spent 6 months as a sixth grade instructor on the Upper West Side.

[17] While he played in these bands, he worked at odd jobs on the side to make more money, including trading used comic books.

Stanley took on the role of lead performer on stage, while Simmons became the driving force behind what became an extensive Kiss merchandising franchise.

The eye section of his "Demon" makeup with Kiss came from the wing design of comic book character Black Bolt.

[24] Simmons appeared as a psychic working at the Mystic Journey Bookstore in Venice, California on the American hidden camera prank TV series I Get That a Lot.

[30] On September 14, 2023, Simmons was one of the guest speakers chosen to introduce Yoshiki at his imprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

[citation needed] In the 1980s, Simmons produced albums by bands including Keel, Wendy O. Williams, Black'N Blue and Doro.

The project also featured several other Rock N Roll Hall of Famers including Def Leppard's Joe Elliot, Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum and Deep Purple's Glenn Hughes as well as Billy Idol's Steve Stevens, Collective Soul's Ed Rolland, Sebastian Bach, Alice in Chain's Mike Inez and the Cult's Billy Duffy.

On March 1, 2012, the line up and the tour was revealed at a news conference hosted by Promoter Gabe Reed at the Roxy theater in Hollywood, CA.

[citation needed] In August 2013, Simmons, Paul Stanley and manager Doc McGhee became a part of the ownership group that created the LA Kiss Arena Football League team, which played their home games at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

[42] Simmons resides in Los Angeles with his wife Shannon Lee Tweed, a Canadian[43] actress and former Playboy Playmate.

[46] Simmons believes he is an "outcast" in the rock music community due to his open disdain for drug and alcohol use, and has proudly claimed many times to have never been drunk or high on a substance in his life.

[52] Simmons is a science fiction and comic book fan and published several science-fiction fanzines, among them Id, Cosmos (which eventually merged with Stilletto to become Cosmos-Stilletto and then Faun), Tinderbox, Sci-Fi Showcase, Mantis and Adventure.

I will forever be grateful to America for going into World War II, when it had nothing to gain, in a country that was far away... and rescued my mother from the Nazi German concentration camps.

[59] In an April 2012 interview, Simmons endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for President: "America should be in business and it should be run by a businessman.

In July 2014, Simmons made comments in an interview with Songfacts that encouraged those with depression to kill themselves.I never understand, because I always call them on their bluff.

[82] Following his comments, both Triple M and Winnipeg radio station Power 97 stated that they were pulling all Kiss songs from their lineup in protest.

[84] On November 16, 2017, Simmons made an appearance on Fox & Friends to promote a new book, but shortly afterward, he burst into a staff meeting uninvited, unbuttoning his shirt and telling jokes.

The next day, on November 17, Fox News announced that Simmons was banned for life from their program, as well as from entering any of the company's properties.

Simmons later issued a statement saying that he has "a tremendous amount of respect" for the company's workers and apologized for "unintentionally offending" any staff members during his visit.

[96] He is an advocate for public safety during the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging people to wear face masks and follow social distance protocols.

Simmons and Tweed also visited the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood to support the troops as a part of the Aces & Angels event.

[98] In 2013, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History accepted an autographed Gene Simmons Axe bass into their collection from John Upshaw Downs Jr.

An immigrant and son of a holocaust survivor, he used creative vision and entrepreneurial acumen to make a significant impact for our nation's popular culture, becoming an iconic figure in American music and entertainment.

"[99] Simmons is an honorary board member of Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.

[citation needed] Gene Simmons is a playable character in Tony Hawk's Underground,[109] unlocked when completing the story mode on Normal difficulty, and also appears with his Kiss bandmates in the Hotter Than Hell level to play one of three songs upon collecting the four K-I-S-S letters.

In addition to narrating the main storyline, voicing the character Demigod of Rock in cutscenes, and doing advertising for the game, the Kiss song "Love Gun" is playable.