GENE SIMMONS Says Music Industry Has Lost 'Billions Of Dollars' During Coronavirus Pandemic

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke to the Fox 11 Los Angeles TV show "Good Day LA" about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the music industry, with pretty much every live show, venue, and festival being canceled or postponed. He said (see video below): "Well, look, we can talk about the big numbers, and that means billions of dollars that are lost. The rich and the famous and the good-looking folks who wear silly outfits like this and who have silly hair like this — just billions of dollars flushed down the drain. So what? You're talking about single mothers and families who live from check to check. The people who actually put on these concerts — the security people, the road crews, all that stuff. This is important; this is survival. And so the folks in and around the infrastructure are the people who are suffering the most."

He continued: "We're doing our part. We have a restaurant chain called Rock & Brews — two at LAX; they're all over Southern California, across the nation and everything — we put a stop to it. And we're actually writing checks to important stuff. I just sent a nice big check to the children's hospital here in L.A., because you not only have children suffering from this horrible thing, there are children who are also fighting cancer. So everybody can do their part. There are food banks. Everybody can do the stuff. Stay at home. Get to know your wifey. She wants to see you more often anyway."

Gene went on to say that people like him "have nothing to complain about… There are some miserable things going on out there," he said. "People are losing their lives — all sorts of stuff. The best thing we can do is to look out for each other… We're in this together. The only way is the lonely way. Get used to being by yourself or with your loved ones."

Millions of Americans are facing stay-at-home orders as the coronavirus continues to tear its way through the U.S.

More than 1.6 million coronavirus cases have been reported worldwide and more than 100,000 deaths so far, putting public health systems and emergency services under immense pressure.

U.S. officials have repeatedly urged Americans to heed what federal, state and local officials are asking of them in order to curtail the spread and dampen the impact of the virus on the population.