KISS guitarist said he copied Jimmy Page
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley admitted to copying guitar players like Led Zeppelin icon Jimmy Page as he tried to figure out his own style.
“I learned by copying guys like Page, Beck, Clapton, Townshend, The Beatles, and The Stones. My style is just a conglomeration of all those great players. There were so many great guitar players in the ’60s who had their own style and technique. There will never be another Jimi Hendrix,” Frehley told Guitar World.
KISS created their own style that made all four original members very rich, most notably Gene Simmons.
During a recent appearance on The HoneyDew podcast, KISS bassist Gene Simmons opened up about his relationship with money and how he manages his finances.
Gene Simmons explains his attitude regarding money
Simmons started by crediting his mother for why he’s so responsible with money:
“It’s interesting. Different cultures think of money in different ways. If you’re not Jewish, per Benjamin Franklin, a penny saved is a penny earned — by the way, now a penny saved is two pennies earned, ’cause that was before taxes, before America had taxes, federal included — so if you are not Jewish, people say, ‘Oh, you’re frugal.’ If you’re Jewish, ‘You’re f*cking cheap.’”
He continued: “When somebody says I’m cheap, I say, ‘Thank you. I’m smart, b*tch. I’ll see you at the end.’ And revenge, for all the people that had something to say about you, the best revenge is to have them work for you. That’s the best revenge. Keep your nose right on the grindstone. Work hard, work harder than your next-door neighbor. Amass your fortune, whatever that is. And living well is the best revenge.”
Simmons went on to reveal that he’s amassed enough wealth that the next few generations will be more than comfortable.
“I’ve got my finances in such order that the next two to three generations are taken care of. That’s why you have to diversify… So I’m in crypto, real estate, stocks, bonds, futures, commodities.”
Despite this, the musician insists he taught his children to take care of themselves.
“Neither [my son] Nick nor [my daughter] Sophie ever got — what is it called? — allowances, where you give your kids money for nothing,” he said. “No. You want money? You’ve gotta do something. Do this. I don’t know — mow the lawn, clean this, do that. Then you understand the value of it. And then you don’t have to say ‘thank you’. You don’t owe anybody money.
“The love of labor… If you can get that into the thick skulls of — what’s the new [generation]? Generation X? What is it? … Generation f*cked up. The entitled generation. ‘Cause if you go through your whole life getting your palm greased, which used to mean you get money for nothing, when you turn 18 or 20, whenever it is that you’re on your own, you get entitled: ‘Hey, I deserve healthcare.’ No, actually, you don’t. ‘I deserve free living.’ It’s up to you.”
