GENE SIMMONS Talks To BILLBOARD About ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME; Video Available

December 10, 2008

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons sat down with Billboard magazine at its annual Touring Conference on November 20 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York to talk about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, discount tickets at live shows, and a possible tour with QUEEN. Watch the three-minute chat below.

During a keynote address at the Billboard Touring Conference, Simmons said that the band is currently working out future tour details. "We've been talking with [manager Doc McGhee] about Europe and then doing a year-long tour maybe this coming summer, but we'll see," he said. "KISS and QUEEN, that would be a smash. That would kill. So far (it's) 50/50."

During the address, Simmons, who is also a reality TV star and entrepreneur, stressed the duties of being a live performer. "I don't care if you're Axl Rose, forgot to tie your shoelaces or your father molested you when you were three — you're a bitch if you don't show up onstage when it says 9 o'clock," he said, drawing loud applause from the audience.

"You need to have the integrity and self-respect to respect the promoter who paid you the money in advance, the hall and the people who makes all our lives possible," he continued.

Simmons also expressed his discontent with the fact that KISS, which he co-founded in 1972, has not yet been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "A lot of those guys on the board can go and get my sandwich when I want, and I mean that in the nicest way," he said. "There are disco bands, rap bands, Yiddish folk song bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but not KISS. I believe we have more gold records in America than any other group, but it's OK."

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