Gene Simmons Costume

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Gene Simmons’ biography is as intriguing and interesting as the man himself – ‘The Demon’ of the popular 1970’s hard rock band – Kiss! Gene Simmons, or originally Chaim Witz, was born on August 25, 1949, in Haifa, Israel. This Israeli-born ‘American’ immigrated to New York City, when he was eight years old, with his mother Florence Klein who was a Jewish Hungarian immigrant. His father, Feri Witz, also Jewish, had abandoned the family.

After arriving in the U.S., he took the name Eugene Klein, and later Gene Klein. In the late-1960s, he again changed his name, this time finally to Gene Simmons. He attended Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Ever since his childhood, Simmons had a strong desire for fame and wealth. In fact, his involvement with music began in the early years of his life.

When he was a teenager, Simmons started his first band by the name ‘Lynx’, which he disbanded to form another – Long Island Sounds. One of his bands made a demo, ‘Leeta’, which was later released on the ‘Kiss’ box set in its demo version. Though he played in these bands, he made more money by doing some odd jobs like making fanzines and buying used comic books.

It was in the early 1970s that Simmons formed the rock band with Paul Stanley. Though they recorded one album, it was never to be released. Both Simmons and Stanley were not completely satisfied with the sound and the looks of this particular band. When they planned some changes by trying to fire their band members, they were opposed so strongly for their ideas that they decided to quit themselves, despite the fact that they had a record deal with Epic Records.