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KISS receiving the Kennedy Honors over the weekend should have been about the one original member who could not make it – guitarist Ace Frehley, who died on October 16.
Bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons, rhythm guitarist and singer Paul Stanley and – somewhat estranged from the two of them – drummer Peter Criss did make it to the Kennedy Center and the Oval Office to be presented with their medals from US president Donald Trump.
Alongside them were other iconic entertainers such as actor Sylvester Stallone and R&B legend Gloria Gaynor.
But quotes attributed to Simmons in the New York Post before the ceremony may have made the event awkward for Frehley’s daughter Monique, who was there to represent him – even if Simmons asked for an empty chair to signify his former band-mate’s absence.
“He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle,” Simmons told the tabloid regarding Frehley.
“In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart.
“The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow unfortunately.
“It breaks my heart. Peter Criss, our founding drummer, Paul and myself went to the funeral, open casket.
“It was just heartbreaking. Saddest of all perhaps is that Ace just couldn’t stay alive long enough to sit there proudly at the Kennedy Center and listen to – I can’t even tell you who’s going to come out … really impressive people, just to say how much KISS meant to them.
“What can you say – sad.”
In a separate story in the same newspaper, Simmons also offered his thoughts on immigration, saying: “There are laws that are on the books. And if you break the law, you’re a criminal. Illegal immigrants, undocumented – everybody uses a political term,
“An illegal immigrant is a criminal. And I understand everybody comes from hardship. But you’re not going to win that argument with me. My mother was in a concentration camp and our whole family was wiped out.
“I know it’s tough, it’s really tough. But we have a process and my mother and I both waited years before we were allowed into America. The American Dream is alive.”
Simmons also said he wanted to give New York mayor Zohran Mamdani “a chance”.
On Friday Simmons took to the podium at the White House briefing room while Trump was at the soccer World Cup draw, his son Nick shouting: “The longer you stand up there, the higher the chances you get canceled.”
And on top of that that, the God Of Thunder will today (Tuesday) address a senate select committee on ‘fairness’ in the music industry, explaining to the media pack at the Kennedy Center: “I’ll be pointing my finger at both Republicans and Democrats or senators who are joining to hear me talk about the American Music Fairness Act that needs to be passed because your favourite artists… were never paid a single cent when you heard their voices on the radio. Nothing. They were never paid for their performance on the radio, even though radio yearly was making almost 14 billion dollars.
“In America, if you work hard, you should get paid. But that is a fact that’s been around for forever, and sadly this injustice has been ongoing without anybody paying attention to it. It doesn’t affect us as much ’cause we make a living,” and KISS sure makes a living. The band’s net worth is valued at over $300 million.
“But our kids, Nick and Sophie, are both successful artists, and we, as guardians of their future, are not going to allow this injustice to continue.”
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