GENE SIMMONS Says He Doesn't Want Original KISS Lineup To Reunite

A new Gene Simmons interview appears in the April issue of England's Classic Rock magazine. Gene discusses his reality series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" and "Gene Simmons Rock School", (non-)marriage, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Paul Stanley. On the topic of Ace, Gene says, "I love him dearly, he's a sweetheart, but he's his own worst enemy. He's great with lots of people around but when he's alone he doesn't like himself. And he numbs himself. He's been numbing himself for 34 years that I know of. I don't know how often I've seen him straight, but it's almost never."

As for Paul, there happened to be a spelling mistake in the advertisement for Paul's solo album "Live to Win" in Classic Rock a few issues ago that some readers found very amusing. Instead of "Bulletproof", one of the the album tracks was misspelled "Bulletpoof". Says Gene, "That's okay. Are you saying Paul pitches for the other side? It happens not to be the case, but I don't hink there'd be any problems if he did. Some of your biggest heroes are on the other side. Halford and Freddie and Elton, for example. You English make more of that than any country in the world. In fact, the preconceived notion of the English male is gay. You know that. It's based on the public schoolboy system. Sir Richard Branson told me all about it. The bullying often turns sexual. It's rampant."

Gene also talks about the possibility of the original band getting back together again. 'I personally don't want to," he says. "I love Ace and Peter, always have, and because of my tough love thing I've never been shy about saying they've been drug addicts and alcoholics, and they've destroyed themselves."

Is KISS now more of a heritage center than an actual band? "You can ask the STONES or Elton or anybody who's been around for 30 years or more the same question," Gene replies. "It's valid to say it is; it's valid to say it isn't. You want to know when we're going to do a new KISS record? The answer is: when we feel like it. And by the way, no matter what I said earlier, I reserve the right to change my mind about Ace and Peter any time I choose. 'Never say never' is true. How much did you say you want to pay is to get back together? How many hundreds of millions? People say you can't be bought. Fucking-A right you can. Even God passes the hat around at the end of the sermon."

(Thanks: Kiss Kollector)