Gene Simmons fell ill during a KISS concert on Wednesday night (April 12th) in Manaus, Brazil, and was forced to perform part of the set sitting down.
As originally reported by Brazilian journalist Igor Miranda, Simmons appeared woozy during the performance and eventually asked a member of the road crew for a chair.
Simmons proceeded to perform while seated, as seen in audience footage. For such a flamboyant and active performer, it’s an unfortunate sight to see Gene in full costume in a chair onstage. Still, it was admirable of him to go on with the show. Eventually Paul Stanley would pause the proceedings to give Gene a break.
“We’ll need to stop to take care of him because we love him, right?” Stanley told the audience. “Let’s give Gene a very loud ‘Gene’: 1, 2, 3! Ok! We’ll see each other soon, we love you.”
After about five minutes, the band returned to the stage. As reported by Miranda, Simmons was struggling with the Amazonian heat and appeared to be doing better after the brief spell.
The concert was a part of the South American leg of KISS’ ongoing “End of the Road” farewell tour. The band has stated that the scheduled 2023 dates will be their “absolute final shows,” culminating with two concerts at Madison Square Garden in December. Tickets to their upcoming dates are available here.
Below you can watch footage of Gene Simmons falling ill during the KISS concert in Manaus.
Gene Simmons, baixista e vocalista do Kiss, passa mal e show é brevemente interrompido na Arena da Amazônia. pic.twitter.com/nphJEj1PQo
— A Crítica (@ACritica) April 13, 2023