“He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle. In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart,” Gene Simmons told The New York Post ahead of KISS receiving their Kennedy Center Honors Medallions, “The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow unfortunately.”
The rather insensitive attitude seemed to get worse, as Simmons went on to say “It breaks my heart. Peter Criss, our founding drummer, Paul [Stanley] and myself went to the funeral, open casket.
“It was just heartbreaking. Saddest of all perhaps is that [Frehley] just couldn’t stay alive long enough to sit there proudly at the Kennedy Center and listen to – I can’t even tell you who’s going to come out … really impressive people, just to say how much KISS meant to them.
“What can you say – sad.”
This comes after a rather long standing feud about Frehley‘s addiction and sobriety when he was both in and out of the band. Suffering from alcohol and drug addiction for over three decades, Frehley had his first drink at 13, and spent time in hospital and AA in 1983 after being arrested for driving under the influence before eventually getting sober in 2006. Frehley‘s addiction issues and his coming and going from KISS are similarly sporadic with, the founding member left KISS for the first time in 1982, rejoining in 1996, and before leaving again in 2002.
During that time, Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley were at odds for numerous reasons, one of them reportedly being Frehley‘s substance abuse. Back in 2024, Frehley sat down with Dave Cohen for an interview for Guitar Tales, talking to Cohen about how his relationships with both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were accelerants for his drinking problem (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I had really big resentments against [Simmons] and [Stanley] when I quit the band the first time, and even the second time. They used to say I got fired, which is complete bullshit. Both times I left on my own accord, and they would perpetuate the myth that they fired me, which is complete bullshit.”
This comes after Frehley put Simmons on blast back in 2019 for “slanderous” remarks about Frehley’s addictions, despite being sober for nearly 13 years at that point.
So, in what appears to be Simmons‘ signature, tactless style, he had to be nasty about the dead. And then, he and the rest of KISS (and Frehley‘s daughter, who Mr. Trump who no problem calling ‘beautiful’ for no reason) went to the White House to receive the Kennedy Center Honors Medal.
Awarded to those who have a significant impact or contribution to their artistic field (dance, motion pictures, music, opera, television, or theatre), KISS were added to the list of rock musicians who have been recognised so far (Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, The Eagles) for their impact on not only the rock community, but music in general. Accepting their awards, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Frehley‘s daughter all shook Mr. Trump‘s hand after being presented with their medal.
You can watch footage of KISS in the White House below.
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