u/OverallMission8605

Fact-checking Sammy Hagar’s autobiography “Red”

Page 54: "the first Montrose album has sold more than 4 million records over the years."

According to the RIAA, it's certified just ONE million. (Worldwide sales are barely more than USA sales for all Hagar's albums).

PAGE 78: I sold out the Oakland Coliseum that Fourth of July [1980].

Sammy fails to mention that he was on the bill with 4 other bands, three of which were hugely popular at the time: Blue Oyster Cult, REO Speedwagon, and Triumph, (and also Randy Hanson). Hagar conveniently implies he sold it out by himself.

PAGE 80: [In 1982]: "We went out on tour, headlining arenas, double nights in a lot of places."

From my years working in concert promotion at Electric Factory in Philly in the 80s (a huge concert promoter back then), I have the list of Sammy's 1982 tour dates straight from Pollstar. There was only ONE city listed where he played twice: San Francisco. Again, he is lying through his fake teeth.

4-7) Page 90 contains one incredible paragraph that is the biggest pile of BS I've ever read relating to Van Halen in my life!:

"The tour for VOA was my most successful. I sold out arenas everywhere, two, three, or four nights some places, one of the top grossing tours in 1984-right up there with Van Halen, who broke at the same time with Jump and all that. I remember getting an award in Portland, Oregon. I sold out two nights and got the Show of the Year. Van Halen was runner-up. We were neck-and-neck on the road. My album was 1.6 million, but they ended up selling 10 million records."

"VAN HALEN 'BROKE' WITH JUMP IN 1984"

How he belittles VH's earlier success! I was under the impression that they broke in 1978, when they exploded with their earth-shattering debut, rewriting the rules for rock music and sold 2 million copies right out of the gate! Ed was winning every guitar player award in site. In only their first year, VH far eclipsed everything that Montrose & Hagar ever did. Everyone was talking about VH in '78, and NO ONE was talking about Hagar or Montrose.

"I SOLD OUT ARENAS EVERYWHERE, TWO, THREE, FOUR NIGHTS IN SOME PLACES, ONE OF THE TOP GROSSING TOURS IN 1984-RIGHT UP THERE WITH VAN HALEN".
"We [VH and Hagar in 1984] were neck-and-neck on the road." On what planet? Anyone who was alive during the 80s knows that Van Halen was infinitely more popular than Hagar. Perhaps Hagar was the only person on EARTH who didn't see it that way. In 1984, Van Halen was through the stratosphere - their tour absolutely dwarfed all other rock band's tours, especially Hagar's.
"I remember getting an award in Portland, Oregon. I sold out two nights and got the Show of the Year." Again, from my years working in concert promotion, I have here Sammy's 1982 tour dates. He played ONE night in Portland, Oregon, on 3/19/82, at the Memorial Coliseum. The dates before and after were both in Washington. No other Portland dates.

8 ) Page 113: "Before I joined the band, Van Halen didn't have a particularly tight show. Roth would talk. They'd do another song. Ed would play a 20 minute guitar solo. They would do another song. Roth would talk some more, another song, Al would do a drum solo for 30 minutes. On the 1984 tour they were doing 8 songs in a 2 hour show. They ended every song the same way."

Any fan who reads this who either saw Van Halen before Sammy joined, or owns ANY amount of old Van Halen bootlegs, knows that every single thing Sammy said in that paragraph is complete bullshit. EVH's solo was always around 10 minutes. Alex's was always 3-4 minutes. They always did 16 songs, not counting solos. VH was a well-oiled machine, a stellar production, and tightly choreographed - the exact opposite of what Sam describes. Again, he is shamelessly rewriting history to try to diminish what Van Halen was before he joined.

Page 121: The record [Sammy's solo album "I Never Said Goodbye"] went platinum immediately.

As of today it has only been certified Gold status. It's never been Platinum, and certainly not immediately LOL.

Page 122: "We [VH in 1986] were selling out four nights in arenas anywhere."

Although the 5150 tour was a smashing success, and they occasionally would sell 2, 3 or even 4 nights in certain cities, the band played ONE night vast majority of cities. Also, the 5150 tour wasn't as big as the 1984 tour, which had the band playing one additional night in several cities than they were on the 5150 tour.

Page 173: "The fans went against Roth. He died a quick death as a solo artist."

I would say that most current VH fans are under the impression that Hagar's solo career has been more successful than Roth's. However, if you want to measure the success with ALBUM SALES, Roth's solo career has actually been more successful than Hagar's! Roth's first 3 albums went Platinum (Crazy From The Heat in 85, Eat 'Em And Smile in 86, and Skyscraper in 87). Hagar, however, never had could match that success - he never had 3 consecutive Platinum solo albums, just 3 consecutive GOLD albums, and then later in 1987 released another one that only went gold, with the help of Eddie playing bass.

Hagar's solo career simply was never as big as Roth's was in the 80s.

Page 222: When Irving Azoff told Hagar that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame wanted to induct Van Halen, but only the Roth-version of the band, Hagar says, "I went nuts on Irving. I was in the band longer than Roth. He was in Van Halen seven years. I was with them eleven years. I sold more records than he did. How could they do that to me?"

He is wrong on both counts. Roth was in VH for 12 years (74-85) and VH sold twice as many albums with Roth than with Hagar. (See published figures at RIAA.com).

Page 234: Sammy says that, before he joined VH, "I was selling out multiple arenas, had five platinum albums in a row on Geffen, and I was ripe to join Van Halen when they asked"

I already went over the "multiple arenas" bull. As for "5 platinum albums in a row on Geffen"? He had only 3 Geffen albums! And none were platinum!

1981 Standing Hampton -" Gold as of 1985.

1982 Three Lock Box - Gold to this day.

1984 V.O.A. "Gold as of mid-1985.

Those are all the major lies that I can detect, just as a fan. I can't even imagine how many more lies are in the book that the fans would have no way of detecting.

Hagar wants all the fans to think that he was hugely successful BEFORE he joined VH, as if joining them wasn't necessarily the thing that catapulted his career. In countless interviews, he states that his solo albums were going platinum before VH.

This is all a lie. In reality, NONE of his solo albums were platinum by the time he joined VH in mid-1985. Sure, as of 2011 when he did the book 3 of his albums had gone platinum (Montrose, Standing Hampton, and V.O.A.) - but Hampton didn't go platinum until 1992, V.O.A. didn't go platinum until Nov. 85 (after he was announced as the new VH singer) and Montrose didn't until 1986 either, thirteen years after release.

YES, Hagar was (moderately) successful before VH, and good for him!! Why can't he just be satisfied with the success that he truly DID have and just be HONEST about everything in his book? It's because his ego and his insecurity can't handle the truth.

Sammy's all about HIMSELF. He belittles Roth and Eddie to try to seem better than them. He belittles the legacy that Roth, Ed, Al, & Mike created together, just to make HIS years in VH seem better. I find his behavior disgusting and immoral. Nothing outside of HIMSELF is sacred to him, and certainly not Van Halen! Ironically, his very own autobiography shattered my respect of him.

The date: December 18, 2001

Publication: Eye Weekly

Location: I was at the Eye Weekly office in Toronto; Gene was calling in from Beverly Hills

Products being promoted: His memoir, KISS and Make-Up, and the KISS box set

The context: According to the laws of rock, we’re all entitled to one problematic fave—that artist who, no matter what stupid shit they say or terrible things they do, you’re unwilling to cut out of your life completely. For some people, it’s Michael Jackson, for others it’s Morrissey. For me, it’s KISS—a band I started listening to at the age of four, when I skipped over “Wheels on the Bus” and headed straight for “Calling Dr. Love.” My first-ever concert was the Creatures of the Night tour at Maple Leaf Gardens when I was eight years old. The two things I remember about that show was that the stoner sitting behind me puked on my jacket (which felt like some sort of rock ‘n’ roll initiation ritual), and Eric Carr’s drum set was perched atop a tank, which allowed him to do this:

As the video above demonstrates, KISS were an exceedingly easy band for a kid to get into: They were essentially Star Wars with guitars, and their R-rated subject matter easily lent itself to G-rated interpretations. Years before I realized “Love Gun” was Paul Stanley’s rapturous ode to his own cock, I just thought it was about a pistol that shoots hearts.

Even after I thought I had outgrown the band and entered my music-snob years, I’d still go on a little KISS binge every couple of months, and gorge on the riffs to “Makin’ Love” and “Mr. Speed” to remind myself of why I got excited about rock ‘n’ roll in the first place (even as their skeezy lyrics reminded why I had moved on). So when I got the opportunity to interview Gene in late 2001 about his memoir and a concurrently released five-disc KISS box set, I had to do it for my four-year-old self, even if my then-27-year-old self had already grown weary of Gene’s transformation into the world’s most egotistical coffin salesman.

Talking to Gene is a lot like sitting down with that proverbial, proudly assholic old uncle at Thanksgiving dinner: 90 percent of what he says makes your eyes roll to the point where they might pop out of your head, and yet—on a musical-DNA-level at least—he’s still mishpucha. It’s no understatement to say I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today without the spark that KISS first lit in me as a kid, so I was willing to humour his more heinous statements—and believe me, there were a lot of them. But in true “a broken clock is correct twice a day” fashion, there were also moments of clarity in between his hysterical hot takes and ceaseless sales pitches—his pat “have a good time all the time” philosophy is a direct byproduct of growing up a poor immigrant kid raised by a Holocaust-survivor mother, and his relentless pro-U.S.A. boosterism extends to his aversion to the ethnocentric premise of his native Israel, a stance that would get him branded a radical leftist by his old boss today.

Where are you today?

In the hills of Beverly.

So do you feel more California than New York these days?

I'm happy to be wherever I am because I get to be me.

When I first tried calling you today, you were in meetings. What’s on the agenda for you at the moment?

Let me see. There's a website called GeneSimmons.com which houses all my stuff. I'm starting a magazine called Gene Simmons Tongue, which is coming in the spring, and it's a joint venture with Sterling McFadden. A great looking girl is going to be on the cover, and she's got to stick a tongue out. And “Tongue Lashings” will be the letter column, and on and on and on. So that hits in the spring. Also at the same time there’s going to be Gene Simmons Dragonfly, which is going to be a clothing line that features the money-bag logo, which I've owned for about 25 years. And the other thing that's happening is a line of stores—Gene Simmons Dragonfly stores—and the first one is opening on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood in the spring sometime.

So is that going to be, like, streetwear?

Well, they're selling my line as well, so just general clothes and fun. You'll be able to go in there and snack and flirt. You know, it’s all about fun. I don't care what it is—comic books…

It’s interesting: your mindset is a lot closer to a hip-hop mogul than a rock musician…

Except I tend not to be a criminal—that's the difference. And it's interesting: The credibility quotient goes up substantially if you're a criminal, whereas I like it clean. But it's funny you say I'm following in the footsteps of hip-hop…

I’m not saying you’re following per se, just that there are parallels…

I don't think there is—explain to me what.

You talk about this in your book: Rock stars these days always complain about being a rock star, whereas rappers celebrate their success…

Oh yes, in that way, Black music is much more honest. Black music makes no gumption about the great strain in all of us men, which is: We want lots of money and beautiful girls. And any white guy who says otherwise is lying. You know, there was a magazine in the ’60s called Eye Magazine, in America.

There's one in England now, too.

That doesn't count, you know that. America is where the numbers are. It doesn't mean England or Canada aren’t nicer countries, it just means there's just not enough copies to be sold.

Well, the British pound is worth more than the dollar…

Yeah, but still, flash a dollar and watch everybody's knees buckle.

I heard you recently had lunch with our Prime Minister.

Yes! I was invited, and I've got my Canadian content, which is Shannon Tweed. A fine export, as are most Canadian things. And yet for some reason, Canadians don't want to stay. Why is that? Why don't they stay? Because America's the promised land. You can be the biggest Canadian star in the world, and nobody will care. I'm here for the same reason Canadians are here. I'm from Israel, and I'm in America because it's the promised land. You can become a Canadian star, and no one will care. America is the one that opens the doors, and people all over the world agree that it opens the doors. I didn't make the rules and neither did you. You could be a bar band who's nobody and still play to a thousand people in America.

So did you get a chance to have a proper conversation with our Prime Minister?

Well, yes. We exchanged a couple of pleasantries—much more with his charming wife. My job is to put a smile on every woman's face—it doesn't matter what age or anything—because it's the least I can do. They go to great pains to put on perfume to smell good and lipstick to look good, so the least I can do is be nice and flirt right back.

Was she picking up on your vibe?

Oh sure. I'm 6’2”—that helps.

So I assume you weren’t doing what Bono did when he spoke to the Prime Minister…

Sonny Bono?

No, the other one. He had a big talk with the Prime Minister recently about trying to reduce third-world debt.

I don't agree with reducing third-world debt. At all. If I give you a dollar, I want the money back. Here's the problem with Bono's idea: It's dishonest. If you're borrowing money from me and then later say, “why don't you forget about it”—my answer is no. If you're saying, “can you give me charity and you're never getting it back,” then I say, “okay, here's money.” You just have to make the rules straight upfront, not after the fact. And that notion of “Well, you can afford it”—that's for you to decide. And so I'm all about charity, but call it charity in the beginning. But if you're taking it as a loan, be a man and pay up.

But I guess the hope is that richer governments will start looking at it as charity instead of a loan…

Hold on, one second… pardon me. [He talks to somebody in the background.]

So with all the projects you have going on, does it feel like KISS was just a bridge to you realizing your true destiny as a business mogul?

Everything is a bridge. Every day is a bridge to something else. Everyone you meet introduces you to something else. And life is full of opportunities. It just depends whether or not you take advantage of it or whether or not you know you want to sit around. So I'm going to be doing a series of pay-per-view things called Gene Simmons Presents, which has nothing to do with KISS, and there’s any number of new projects, movies, TV and clothing. Every day above ground should be a fun day, and for me, fun is working the phones and making things happen that didn't happen before. That's my idea of fun. The vacation idea doesn't appeal to me in the least. The only thing that I care about is what I believe everybody cares about—well, guys anyway, straight ones, anyway: Lots of money and great-looking girls, and anybody who tells you otherwise is lying their fucking head off.

It’s almost like the story chronicled in this book is just chapter one for you.

Well yes, there's already a second book that I'm finalizing now, and a third one coming up. The second book is probably going to be called Buy This, which is going to be my “how I did it and how you can do it too” book, and the third one is going to be a morality book—my bizarre notions about happiness, which is: make yourself happy before everybody else. I think all the things they’ve taught you are wrong, and the title so far is going to be KISStianity.

I heard Barbara Walters was taking you to task for your views on The View.

Well, actually, offstage she was quite flirtatious. But, you know, when you're surrounded by four or five women, and the rock that holds them together is the notion that men are monogamous, when they meet a guy like me who says, “well, no little girl, that's not the way it goes”… By and large, I don't subscribe to any of that because I think at the end of the day, you should be happy and whether it means monogamy or not… hold on one second. [He starts relaying instructions to an assistant] We’re hanging platinum albums here.

How many do you have now?

Well, counting the solo records, we're at 28 or 29 gold and something like 22 or 23 platinum. We’re right behind The Beatles in the gold record group category.

How many did they have?

Oh, gee, 34-35. Something like that.

Does that include singles? Do they even have 34 albums?

Oh, yeah, there’s new greatest-hits albums every day of the week.

They just keep repackaging it.

Well, it's not repackaging to somebody who's never heard it before. It's a brand new album. Repackaging is only if you're 100 years old and you've seen it all before. Every time there's a new 15 year old, it’s a new album.

So are you taking the same approach to the KISS catalogue? Because KISS is a very easy band for kids to latch onto…

Well, there's going to be a line of kids comic books—a brand new set, because we just finished doing the Psycho Circus line, which lasted about 31 issues. And now this series is going to be with Dark Horse, and it's going to be based on an idea of mine, and the first one is going to be Superman meets KISS. I'm not kidding.

Who wins?

Who cares! Buy the comic book—you're missing the point. Buy the comic book and you can have it both ways. It’s being written right now. Perhaps in one version, Superman wins, and in the other one, KISS wins. As long as you buy it, I'm happy to let anyone win. Have it your way—like Burger King. And then a Canadian company called Mainframe and KISS are doing a joint venture for a KISS CGI superhero show based on an idea of mine. I just finalized that deal. And then I go up to Toronto to start production on My Dad the Rock Star, which is a show I created for Nelvana, another Canadian company, and they start production on 26 half-hours.

Do you ever lose track or get overwhelmed with all the stuff you got going on?

No—the alternative is working for a living. This is fun! I have my own hours. I do whatever I want, whenever I want to do it, and nobody’s looking over my shoulder.

What time do you get up at on the average day?

Well, even if I'm tired, my eyes shut and spring open at 7 a.m. no matter what. Even if I go to sleep at 3 or 4 a.m., they just open at 7 a.m. ‘

Your body just won't let you sleep.

It's my mind. The body wants to do all kinds of things. The body wants to eat cake 24 hours a day. The body wants sex 24 hours a day.

So now that most of your work is behind-the-scenes…

No, no, no…

Well, I mean, you’re not playing in front of 50,000 screaming fans all the time…

Well, the last dates of the last tour were in Japan and Australia. That kicked off at Tokyo Stadium and ended at Gold Coast Stadium in Australia. And it's an awful lot of fun. And we still have to do Europe and South America and Asia and so on. Hold on one second—let me grab this call [he takes the call]… So, you know, there's going to be some more dates at some point when we come back up for air, as soon as traveling is safe. [Note: this interview took place just three months after 9/11.]

You’re not confident yet?

Well, I'd like to see the head of this guy on a platter with an apple in his mouth. Wouldn’t you?

It seems every time they’re getting close, he slips away.

That’s okay, it’s only been a month. Wars used to last years and years.

Do you go back to Israel at all?

No. I've never been back since I left, because I came to the promised land: America. It's the only hope for humanity, as far as I'm concerned. Because when you go to Canada, it’s about Canadians. When you go to Japan, it's about the Japanese. When you go to Israel, it’s about the Israelis—it's about one religion and one culture and one race. America is about everything, where an Austrian with a funny accent and muscles can scale the heights, where Black people can scale the heights, where you can be from Belgium and speak English like Van Damme and still be huge. Whereas if you stayed at home, who cares? America is the only hope for mankind because, in a lot of ways, it's a microcosm of mankind. It's the only place where Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants and Muslims and Jews and Israelis and Arabs can sit across the table from each other at a restaurant and say, “please pass the butter.” In other parts of the world, we'd be killing each other.

It's funny you say that, because here in Canada, we define ourselves as a cultural mosaic compared to America’s melting pot…

No, it's not. Everybody's white; there are no Black people in Canada. Nobody speaks Spanish. Only in America can you have Spanish and French and whoever is in any single place.

Actually, Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world…

Okay, okay, okay, you don't have to defend because I'm not attacking. But, you know, the U.N. is not in Sudbury, okay? And it ain't in Europe either. And this is not even my country. I'm an outsider saying, “I'd rather live here than anywhere,” with all its drive-by shootings and graffiti. “American Woman/ stay away from me”—guess what, Burton Cummings: You can't pay your rent unless you come to America. You better start kissing her ass fast. Guess what? There's some places here where there's actually sunshine, and the girls have big tits and are very willing to share them. And no igloos. “Gene, what are you inferring? That some parts of Canada have igloos?” No, America has igloos, in Alaska.

Some Americans like it up here—that’s why they took Alaska.

Ha ha. I thought it was bought. Seward's Folly, 1867. You know, I used to be a sixth grade teacher.

So what was your main motivation for writing this autobiography at this point in your life?

Because I can, and because they wanted to give me money and because from my heart I owe everything to America and its people, because they made my life possible.

So it's just as much a tribute to America as yourself.

I think first and foremost, it's a tribute to America, and I just came along for the ride.

So are there any specific records you want to set straight?

Well, sure. What you see is not necessarily what you get. And if you read the book, you’ll know that all is not well in wonderland. You grow and you think that Ace is a nice, sunny, happy guy and that Peter's a cute little cuddly guy, and Gene's a big, bad wolf who gets high on crack 24 hours a day. Well, I don't know how to tell you all this, but it's exactly the opposite: Gene’s the milk-and-cookies guy, and Ace and Peter have lots of problems. Some of them chemical, some of them personal. And in the same breath that I can tell I love the guys when they're straight, I hate them when they're high. No different than your family if your dad was a drug addict or a drunk—you love him because he's your father when he's straight and you hate him when he's high. And the only problem with anybody who's dysfunctional is that if you bring your dysfunction into a band or on stage, it affects everybody, like a fire. And so I hate that about them. And the book is about that.

Reading the book, it’s amazing you actually stuck it out with them for so long.

Yeah. And despite the fact that, for 30 years, it's been torture to be in the same band with them, would I do it all over again? Yeah, I would. I know lots of healthier people and they were better musicians, like Eric [Carr] and Bruce [Kulick] and Eric [Singer]. Eric Carr was certainly a better drummer than Peter Criss. And yet, perhaps at the end of the day, the thing about KISS in some bizarre way, it's never been about good taste. It's always been about tasting good. We've never chased the classes, we've always chased the masses.

But was it hard for you to swallow your pride and accept that what the masses really wanted was Ace and Peter back in the band?

It was torture. Every time you get up on stage, you never know if it’s going to explode. The fuse has been lit, you just hope that everybody survives until they get off stage.

Have you heard what they thought about the book?

I spoke with Ace beforehand and I said, “I'm going to send you the book, please know this is from my heart. There's nothing that's untrue about this. You'll see the good, the bad and the goddamn ugly.” Hold on one second. [He tells an assistant to move some boxes.] And I left a long message for Peter on his voicemail. And Peter and I and Paul were together in New York when we received this heroes award from a recording industry organization, and we kidded around, even though Peter was not on the Japanese and Australian tour. So my dysfunctional family is no different than your dysfunctional family. Which is to say that everybody argues about everything, but everybody would be able to get along better, whatever the problems were, if everybody was at least straight for it.

How much of your success do you attribute to the fact that you’ve kept straight and sober? Because KISS were starting at the same time as the New York Dolls, who had all the local hype and the record contract and Todd Rundgren producing them…

They had the record contract and they never made it. They had all the power, and they were much hipper than KISS was. But America's a strange place—it really is of the people and for the people and by the people, and they decide everything, no matter what the hype says. And if the intelligentsia and the critics say, “this is the new so-and-so, this is what's going to happen,” Americans will go, “you know what? I think I'll stick with hamburgers. I like hamburgers.” And if I could figure that out, you know, I would create another one in a heartbeat. But it is about individuals. It’s about being in the right place at the right time. And then it’s about making people forget about the traffic jam or your girlfriend who’s a pain in the ass—all those things that make living a little more difficult. And when you get that magic… for some people it's church, for some people it's a fireworks show or the Canadian equivalent, like a leaf falling from the tree… whatever it is that makes another day above ground worth living, if you can tap into that energy, then you got something going. Besides, “Oh, yeah, I can write songs and play guitar,” because anybody can do that. Every bar band can play better than we all can. It's never been about that.

Did September 11th reaffirm that philosophy about appreciating every day?

No, it just reaffirmed what my mother has always taught me. She's a German Nazi concentration-camp survivor; the rest of her family were killed in front of her. So her philosophy's always been: There is good out there, and that every day above ground is a good day. And the negative of that is that they give you one day less to live every day that goes by. So if you're getting a day above ground, what are you going to do with it? Because remember, at the end of the day, you're going to have one day less. And I think that that bodes well for rich people or poor people: Make every day count and enjoy it. You enjoy it. Don't make sure other people enjoy it. Be selfish. Make yourself happy.

So do you think it's possible for a band today to cultivate the same mystique KISS did?

Yes. So that means you have to break all the rules and don't listen to anybody, because along the way, everybody's going to make fun of you. That revenge is when they work for you at the end.

KISS was able to sell out Cobo Hall without a hit single, just on word of mouth, and you broke out with a live album… that doesn’t really happen anymore.

When you really think about it, the great success stories in almost everything were all made fun of. The Wright Brothers were told, “you're not supposed to fly.” And, Thomas Edison with the light bulb—”well, who needs that? We've got candles and light bulbs only last a short time, and candles are cheaper,” and on and on and on. Or Bill Gates and the internet—”Well, who the fuck needs that? We've got television and phones.” You know what, if you're going to tug on somebody's shirtsleeves to find out if it's okay to lead your life, you're never going to have fun—which, ultimately, by the way, makes you lots of money. And as soon as you get the money, you'll get the girls. I don't know if politically correct people want to hear this, but the truth is, girls love money like bees love honey. Get lots of money, you'll get lots of girls. You can be an ugly bastard just like me and they'll still want to be there. Be a garbage collector and see how many you appeal to. “Well, I'm interested in his mind.” Get the fuck out of here. That's what you want to do: sit around and discuss Nietzsche and Kierkegaard with a guy who looks like a troll. However, if this guy who looks like a troll pulls up and he's got a billion in his pocket, oh, I think you're going on your knees very fast. “Oh Gene’s so disgusting.” Yes, because he tells the truth. Make lots of money. It'll figure most things out for you. If you're poor, it's going to be just heartbreak.

Do you worry that people just think of you as a womanizing demon god…

Good!

…and the reason I ask that is, in the liner notes for this box set, you mention that you had a whole bunch of Beatlesy songs that you wrote early on, but didn't fit into KISS. Do you still have a desire to show off your sensitive side?

Sure, eventually. But people should forget about the notion that they have anybody to impress unless you're willing to pay for the privilege. Like, if somebody isn't buying a ticket or buying something I'm selling, I don't know whether or not it's important enough for me to spend time and effort to convince them of a notion about me, because that's just ego talking. I have no problem with my ego as long as it pays. But just walking up to somebody so I can get a pat on the back, like, “Gene, you’re a respectable guy”—that doesn't mean anything to me. It's an intangible. Being delusional helps my state of being, because I don't need people to compliment me. I do a very good job of that myself. The cornball idea is: like yourself more than anybody else does. “Who does that guy think he is?” That's precisely the idea. Make them wonder about you instead of you wondering, “Should I do that? I wonder what they'll think.” Well, you've just become a follower and not a leader.

Have you thought about doing the motivational-speaker circuit?

My third book, as I said, is going to be called KISStianity, right? It’s going to rip God a new asshole, and put some truths on the table. Here's one for you: “You shall have no other gods before you.” That’s from the Ten Commandments. “Because if I ever catch you so much as looking at another God, I will smite you from the face of the Earth!” If that doesn't sound like a jealous bitch, I don't know what does. So God’s got a self-esteem problem—you're worried we're going to start worshiping another god? Aw, that’s cute. Get out of here. I don't believe that's what God is about.

So have you come up with your own Ten Commandments?

One is okay. The only commandment is: Don't hurt anybody, period. Not “do unto others as they would do unto you,” because you're going to be bitchslapped by a sadomasochist. You’ll say, “I don't like that,” and they're going to say, “that's funny, I was just doing the golden rule—I like it when you slap me around,” and you’re going, “you know what? I don't.” So whether somebody likes it or not, don't worry about pleasing them. Just don't hurt them, as much as you can. That's the only commandment. You don't need to worry about God. God's taken care of. No churches, no religion, nothing. Just don't hurt anybody, and that should satisfy God. And if not, then I have a problem with God.

At what age did you reject religion?

I don't reject religion. I have a problem with God. Because God created existence as we know it, and in order for something to live, something has to die. That's what God created. Every breath we take kills microscopic life forms. Every drink of water, anything we eat, every rose we put into our lapel was once alive. And something has to die in order for us to do anything. And that's what God created. I could do a better job.

Gene Simmons' Personal Polaroids - Hit Parader Feb 1977

Forgotten KISS Guitarist Mark St. John's Life, Death & Grave

Donut Demon and Paula Stanley @ a baseball game

Numerous KISS guitar gear advertisements

Gone off now Ricky have you? : Ricky Gervais slammed for ‘tone deaf’ post after Office co-star Lucy Davis’ terminal cancer announcement

KISS: Carnival of Souls Radio Tour 1997 Cleveland, Ohio.

Paul "Synthetic" Stanley, KISS Konvention tour 1995

Eric Carr original Fox makeup design July 1980

Eric Carr 1982

Fact-checking Sammy Hagar’s autobiography “Red”

90s New Zealand commercial - Lisa Dow step workout

KISS "Standees" made out of record covers for display at music shops in the 70s

KISS You Wanted The Best You Got The Best!! promo poster, 1996

Squirrel on-call account 2.25%

The time Paul Stanley left his costume behind at Lynn Goldsmith's studio

Gene Simmons : Failed "Dragonfly" Clothing Line From Early 00s

KISS 1977 Gallup Poll "Most popular band in America" - debunking some myths

Gene Simmons, 1986. Powerful & Attractive Man.

Great discussion about what's in the KISS vaults from 90s catalogue consultant Robert V. Conte

Eric Singer sighting last night

u/OverallMission8605

Gene Simmons' Personal Polaroids - Hit Parader Feb 1977

Forgotten KISS Guitarist Mark St. John's Life, Death &amp; Grave

Donut Demon and Paula Stanley @ a baseball game

Numerous KISS guitar gear advertisements

Gone off now Ricky have you? : Ricky Gervais slammed for ‘tone deaf’ post after Office co-star Lucy Davis’ terminal cancer announcement

KISS: Carnival of Souls Radio Tour 1997 Cleveland, Ohio.

Paul "Synthetic" Stanley, KISS Konvention tour 1995

Eric Carr original Fox makeup design July 1980

Eric Carr 1982

Fact-checking Sammy Hagar’s autobiography “Red”

90s New Zealand commercial - Lisa Dow step workout

KISS "Standees" made out of record covers for display at music shops in the 70s

KISS You Wanted The Best You Got The Best!! promo poster, 1996

Squirrel on-call account 2.25%

The time Paul Stanley left his costume behind at Lynn Goldsmith's studio

Gene Simmons : Failed "Dragonfly" Clothing Line From Early 00s

KISS 1977 Gallup Poll "Most popular band in America" - debunking some myths

Gene Simmons, 1986. Powerful &amp; Attractive Man.

Great discussion about what's in the KISS vaults from 90s catalogue consultant Robert V. Conte

Eric Singer sighting last night

Forgotten KISS Guitarist Mark St. John's Life, Death & Grave

Gene Simmons, 1986. Powerful & Attractive Man.