KISS co-founder Gene Simmons recently offered pointed relationship and money advice aimed at younger rock musicians, arguing that marriage can become financially ruinous if it ends in divorce. His comments, delivered in a recent interview segment, leaned heavily on the practical realities of income, taxes and long-term obligations.
In the conversation on Beardo and Weirdo, Simmons said he didn’t marry until he was 62 and insisted he has no plans to divorce, while warning that “never consider marriage unless you can afford divorce,” adding that the odds are “overwhelmingly against you.”
“I didn’t get married until I was 62. I’ll never get divorced. We’ve married I married her twice and I’ll continue to marry her until we drop dead,” Simmons said. “But my serious advice to anybody, heterosexual males of the species, is never consider marriage unless you can afford divorce.”
Simmons went further by describing the financial hit he believes many divorced men face, claiming that after a split “besides giving her half, the government wants half, too.” He also broadened the point into a general strategy for musicians, urging artists to treat themselves “as a business,” build a budget around what they actually make, and “live below your means.”
“Because the statistics are overwhelmingly against you. And by the way, besides giving her half, the government wants half, too,” he continued. “That won’t leave you enough to wipe your ass with toilet paper. You’ll have to use your hand.”
“Be an army of one. You’ve got to treat yourself as a business. What’s my budget? I make $1,000 a day or a week. Okay. Then I got expenses and taxes and everything,” he explained. “So, you’ve got to there’s a limit to how much. So, live be below your means. Rent, don’t buy. Once you buy, it starts to devalue.”
His remarks fit with the bassist’s long-standing focus on money and the business side of entertainment, themes he has pushed repeatedly in public. In past commentary, he has framed financial literacy as essential for survival in the music world, including moments when he fired back at a critic over wealth and success in a separate exchange.
While Simmons’ language was intentionally blunt, his central message was that success onstage doesn’t protect artists from costly personal decisions offstage. For younger musicians watching veteran careers, the takeaway is that stability—financial and personal—can be as decisive as any hit record when it comes to longevity.
