GENE SIMMONS Talks About The KISS Business

September 5, 2008

Stacy Perman of BusinessWeek.com recently conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. An excerpt from the chat follows.

BusinessWeek.com: Which do you consider yourself first, a rock star or an entrepreneur?

Simmons: "That's an interesting question and the simple answer is a bit of both. Nobody does just one thing. But the real difference between being an entrepreneur and everyone else in the world is the ability to monetize. I am an entrepreneur in the classic mold. No matter what I do — outside of sticking my tongue out — I tend to make money, and quite a bit in non-KISS stuff."

BusinessWeek.com: How did you understand so early that you could leverage KISS into other business ventures?

Simmons: "When the band was starting off, we noticed that T-shirts and non-music items were earning a substantial amount of money. KISS quickly became a multi-headed beast: rock band and rock 'n' roll brand — and the only one to have endured the ages and decades of fads and fashions. Today we have 3,000 licensed products, everything from condoms to caskets. We have you coming and going."

Read the entire interview at BusinessWeek.com.

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