KISS co-founder Gene Simmons has admitted that he doesn’t have any friends.
The polarizing rock legend doesn’t hold back when it comes to sharing his opinion, and he’s burned his fair share of bridges over the years (just ask David Lee Roth). In a new interview, Simmons spoke just as candidly about his own solitude.
“Even today as I sit here, other than Paul [Stanley], and we only get together when we do stuff for the band… How do I say this without sounding inhuman? I don’t have friends,” Simmons told Goldmine magazine.
He continued: “Yeah, if friends means, ‘Gee, I don’t know what I’m going to do this afternoon. Hey, you want to come over and hang out?’ I’m more interested in what I want to do, and I don’t want to pretend that I’m interested in what you want to do because I am not.”
Simmons previously opened up about his working relationship with Paul Stanley and his choice to actively not have friends in a 2006 interview on KISS’ website (via Blabbermouth).
“I have almost no friends,” Simmons said at the time. “On purpose. I prefer acquaintances. I don’t expect anything from anyone and I don’t want anyone coming to me with their problems. Everyone is a grown up. But I digress.”
Calling Stanley “the brother I never had,” Simmons goes on to say that the two live near one another but “don’t see each other often.”x
Meanwhile, KISS are playing a one-off date tomorrow (September 21st) in West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of their ongoing farewell tour. They’ll then appear at the Louder Than Life festival this weekend in Louisville and at the Aftershock fest next month in Sacramento, California. Get tickets to future KISS shows via Ticketmaster.