Gene Simmons recently opened up on how KISS’s iconic makeup helped the band attain massive stardom.
In an interview featured on The Rich Reporter, the discussion revolved around whether KISS could have achieved the same level of commercial success without their signature look. When asked by Brian Breach, “How you guys transcended pop culture? Initially [when] you started you didn’t come out wearing the makeup and everything you had on, do you think you would have sold as much as much merch?” Simmons offered a honest response.
“No,” Simmons said. “What’s Clark Kent without Superman? I mean, he’s kind of run-of-the-mill.”
Simmons then talked about the band’s humble beginnings and the unexpected nature of their success.
“We knew nothing, by the way,” Simmons continued.
“We were unaccomplished, no resume, no experience. We didn’t know what we were doing. We were just kids playing in the mud, you know. But somehow—science calls it a singularity—every once in a while, something happens and you hit on something.”
He then talked about the moment the band’s now-legendary personas came together.
“The only credit we can take is that we, all of a sudden, looked at each other in our rat-infested loft and go, ‘Uh-oh. You look kind of cool,’” Simmons said.
“Because all of us came up with our own makeup by ourselves in front of… It was a fire trap, there wasn’t even a window there. But we rehearsed there and put this thing called KISS together. And within a year and a half—before MTV, before digital, before anything—we were headlining Anaheim Stadium.”
Despite the band’s quick ascent, Simmons noted that early fame did not come with financial reward.
“It bears noting, however, that at that point, I was making $85 a week,” Simmons said.
“But you didn’t care about it. You had fame, and chicks, and you didn’t have to work for a living, and you know, this kind of rock and roll gypsy going from city to city. There’s no job like that. Especially pre-AIDS, (laughs) when you could wake up next to somebody whose name you never bothered to learn.”
