Gene Simmons made comments about his wealth a week after defending a $12,000 fan experience to become his roadie.
“All I ever did was try to figure out how to become powerful and make lots of money, for survival,” the Kiss musician, 75, said in a preview of his new podcast interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “The only thing money ever does, really, is give you the freedom to do stuff you actually like doing.
“It’s better to be rich than poor, it really is,” he continued. “And if you’re a miserable f*** it’s still better to be a rich, miserable f***. That’s all I ever tried to do.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Simmons said he enjoyed the fame that came with being part of Kiss, the storied rock band he formed in 1973 alongside Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss.
Yet, he argued notoriety isn’t always as rewarding without money.
“There are a lot of famous people who are relatively poor, that’s not a lot of fun,” he noted, adding: “There’s a lot of industrial types whose names you don’t recognize who are filthy rich.”
Simmons’s comments come nearly a week after he defended charging over $12,000 for an assistant job experience on his upcoming tour, set to begin on May 2 in Georgia.
Entitled “The Ultimate Gene Simmons Experience,” the opportunity includes helping the crew set up, sitting in on sound check, arriving at the venue with the band, and hanging out backstage.
Instead of a normal job application, interested fans must pay exactly $12,495.
“When I was a kid and went to see shows, I was always curious, ‘What’s it like when they’re in a hotel? What’s it like when the stage is set up? What’s it like being onstage when they’re performing and seeing the audience from the stage?’” Simmons told the New York Post.
“I decided, ‘You know what, nobody’s ever done it. Why not open the idea to be my personal roadie for the day?’” Simmons said.
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“You meet at the hotel where you have breakfast together or, you know, whatever floats your boat,” he explained. “You ride with me to the gig. You can set up amplifiers and drums to your heart’s content. You’re onstage, right offstage to my right. You can video the crowds, whatever. And I pull you onstage to sing a song with me.”
When it comes to souvenirs, the rockstar plans to give each roadie a signed set list, a signed rehearsal bass guitar and allow you to bring up to four personal items for him to sign, providing they are not instruments.
Photos are permitted, and one guest is welcome to tag along.
Simmons was meant to start his tour on April 3 in Anaheim, California, but he postponed 17 of his 26 tour dates until the beginning of 2026.
