
Gene Simmons
Sign in to saveAlso known as Chaim Witz, Haim Witz
Gene Simmons, also known by his stage persona "the Demon", is an Israeli-American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in 1973. Simmons, alongside Stanley, remained a constant member of the band until their dissolution in 2023. Simmons is also known for his long tongue and for his reality television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which aired from 2006 to 2012. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
OverviewAI-generated
Gene Simmons is an American actor, television actor, singer, and composer. Born in 1949 in Tirat Carmel, he holds United States citizenship and is a member of the Republican Party. He is a baritone who plays the bass guitar and voice. His work is primarily located in New York City and falls within the heavy metal music genre. He has been active since 1970 and is a member of the band Kiss.
Simmons speaks Hebrew, Hungarian, English, and German. He is Jewish and was born Chaim Witz. He uses the pseudonyms The Demon, God of Thunder, Dr. Love, and Reginald Van Helsing. His recordings have been released through Casablanca Records and Sanctuary Records. He is married to Shannon Tweed and has two children, Nick Simmons and Sophie Simmons.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Firecrawl, MusicBrainz. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 926 inbound references to Gene Simmons, and connects out to Associated Press, United States Army and AllMusic.
It is catalogued under topics including 1949 births, 20th-century American bass guitarists and 20th-century American Jews.
Vinony links it to 45 Wikipedia language editions.
Film & TV
Haifa, Israel
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; August 25, 1949) is an Israeli American rock bassist, singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and businessman. Known as "The Demon," he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s. Simmons was ranked number 12 in Roadrunner's list of 50 Best Frontmen in Metal History.
Known for
- Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition — Self2026
- From Tokyo to You — Self - Archive Footage2025
- Året var 1976 — Self (archive footage)2025
- Di'Anno: Iron Maiden's Lost Singer — Self2025
- Kiss - Hellfest 2023 — Bass / Lead Vocals2023
- Not On the Heep: The Heavy Metal Saga of Lee Kerslake — Self2023
- KISS: End of the Road2023
- KISS Rok' N Rosemont!2023
- KISS: End of the Road Cincinnati2023
- In Search of Darkness: Part III — Self2022
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1949
Discography
Member of
- Wicked Lester1971–1973
- KISS1973–2023
- Rainbow
- Bullfrog Bheer
- Gene Simmons Band
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Wikipedia views (30d)
127,170 totalvia Wikimedia Pageviews API
Key facts
- Born
- Chaim Witz , ( 1949-08-25 ) August 25, 1949 (age 76) , Haifa , Israel
- Other names
- Gene Klein The Demon the God of Thunder Dr. Love Reginald Van Helsing
- Citizenship
- Israel United States
- Occupations
- Musician singer songwriter record producer actor entrepreneur television personality
- Years active
- 1970–present
- Spouse
- Shannon Tweed ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 2011 )
- Partners
- Cher (1978–1980), Diana Ross (1980–1983)
- Children
- Nick Sophie
- Origin
- New York City, U.S.
- Genres
- Hard rock heavy metal
- Instruments
- Bass guitar vocals
- Formerly of
- Kiss Wicked Lester
- Website
- genesimmons .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website
Gene Simmons
genesimmons.com →Link to the official site · 14,697 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Tirat Carmel
- Spouse
- Shannon Tweed
- Child
- Nick Simmons
- Occupation
- bass guitarist
- Political party
- Republican Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- German
- Native language
- English language
- Religion
- Judaism
- Genre
- heavy metal music
- Instrument
- voice
- Record label
- Sanctuary Records
- Official website
- www.genesimmons.com
- Image
- M1cz1doaxayq.jpg
- Work location
- New York City
- Voice type
- baritone
Show 12 more facts
- Commons category
- Gene Simmons
- date of birth
- 1949-08-25
- member of
- Kiss (band)
- name in native language
- ג'ין סימונס
- start of work period
- 1970-00-00
- pseudonym
- Reginald Van Helsing
- birth name
- חיים ויץ
- social media followers
- 1038723
- writing language
- English language
- unmarried partner
- Diana Ross
- official shop URL
- www.shopgenesimmons.com
- number of viewers/listeners
- 628208
via Wikidata · CC0
~29 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; Hebrew: חיים ויץ [χaˈim ˈvits]; August 25, 1949), also known by his stage persona "the Demon", is an Israeli-American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in 1973. Simmons, alongside Stanley, remained a constant member of the band until their dissolution in 2023. Simmons is also known for his long tongue and for his reality television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which aired from 2006 to 2012. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
Early life and education
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gene Simmons” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.