| Net Worth | $350,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Name | Chaim Witz |
| Date of Birth/Age | August 25, 1949 (age 70) |
| State/City of origin | Tirat Carmel, Israel |
| Height | 6'1 |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Occupation(s) | Musician,record producer,actor. |
Net Worth
Gene Simmons’ net worth is 350 million dollars. He is one of the most successful rock stars in the entire world.
Thanks to the decades-long fame of his group “KISS,” Gene made a ton of money and continues to rake in millions of dollars each year. The band has been around since the 1970s and continues to be a success today.
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Their unexpected commercial success and popularity with younger generations will bring in millions of dollars for years to come.
How Much Does Gene Simmons Make a Year?
Gene Simmons makes more than 20 million dollars each year. This amount varies based on whether he’s released new books, songs or new projects with his production company.
He makes more money today than he did at the height of KISS’s fame thanks to an expanded fan base, more merchandise and the popularity of his own personal brand.
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How does Gene Simmons make his money?
KISS is a wildly popular band. Even though they’re not releasing much new music, KISS still makes millions of dollars from the sales of their albums and songs.
They also have a ton of merchandising deals that make Simmons millions of dollars each year.
Simmons makes hundreds of thousands of dollars from personal appearances on shows, movies and for those who wish to have him perform.
He makes money from his record and production companies, from the books he’s written and from his reality television series Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
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He also is featured as himself in many television shows and films like “Runaway” and “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”
Introduction
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American Rockstar who is best known for his role in the rock band KISS. Simmons does not shy away from controversy.
He is an outspoken Republican and was banned from FOX News for his behavior. Gene is also known for his promiscuous behavior. He claims to have slept with more than 5,000 women.
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In addition to performing with the band KISS, Gene has his record label, magazine and animated series. He uses his celebrity status to help many charitable causes.
Early Life
We know him as Gene Simmons, but his legal name is Gene Klein, and very few people know that Gene’s birth name is Chaim Witz. He is Israeli-American and grew up in Tarat Carmel, Israel.
Gene was born on August 25, 1949, in Haifa, Israel. His parents were Jewish emigrants from Hungary. Amazingly, his mother Florence spent time in a Nazi concentration camp but survived. His father Feri Witz was a carpenter.
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Gene’s family was extremely poor. When he was 8 years old, he moved to New York City with his mother. When he moved to the United States, he changed his name to Eugene Klein.
He went to school in New York City and later graduated from Sullivan Community College.
Before starting his musical career, Gene worked several odd jobs. He was a sixth-grade teacher and an editor at Vogue Magazine.
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Personal life
Gene is a worldly man and speaks English, Hebrew, Hungarian and German. In 2011, he made his first trip back to Israel where he met his half-siblings. He said at the time that he truly felt at home for the first time in his life.
Gene has always lived in Los Angeles. When he was younger he had a live-in relationship with the singer Cher.
According to Gene, while he was dating Cher, he fell in love with singer Diana Ross. Gene and Diana eventually moved in together.
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Gene now lives with and is married to former Canadian Playmate Sharon Lee Tweed. The two met and started dating in 1983 but they didn’t get married until the 2000s.
Gene says that he and Sharon lived “very happily unmarried” for twenty years. He did not comment on why they eventually chose to tie the knot.
Gene and Sharon have two children. Nick was born in 1989 and Sophie was born in 1992.
Gene is a conservative Republican and is very active in the political arena. He said that he very much supported then-President Bush’s foreign policy, including invading Iraq.
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He is a staunch supporter of Israel and because of that said that he regretted voting for Barack Obama in 2010. Gene threw his support behind Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential election.
Career
Gene got started in music when he was just a teenager. He and some friends formed the band “Lynx.” He left the group and started another named “The Long Island Sounds.”
While performing in these bands, he was still going to college and working odd jobs to support himself.
In the early 1970s, Gene joined a band called “Bullfrog Bheer” and one of their songs “Leeta,” was included on a KISS album.
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He formed the band Wicked Lester a short time later with Paul Stanley. They recorded an album, but Gene and Paul weren’t happy with how it sounded, so they tried to fire some of the other members.
This didn’t go well, so Gene and Paul left and decided to create their own band that they said would be the “ultimate” rock band.
A short time later, they found a drummer named Peter Criss and that was the start of their new band.
While they continued to perform, the group was still searching for a lead guitarist. Ace Frehley responded to an ad that they placed in the paper and they released their first album, “KISS,” in 1974.
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Paul took on the role as a lead performer on stage while Gene became their chief merchandiser. His demon-inspired make-up was a take on the comic book character Black Bolt, and fans everywhere tried to mimic it.
The lead vocals of most KISS songs are shared by Gene and Paul. Gene leads vocals on one of the groups best-known songs, “Rock and Roll All Night.” Gene also plays bass.
Gene is also known for his extremely long tongue. He plays a demonic persona on stage, sticking his tongue out and occasionally spitting out stage blood.
In 1983, KISS was losing popularity. To try something new, they got rid of their infamous stage makeup. They also voted drummer Peter Criss out of the band. Eric Carr joined as their new drummer, filling the role until he died.
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They had a very successful reunion tour in 1996 and even hosted fan conventions. Gene and Paul are the only two original band members left, as the others have either left or died.
Gene has played roles in several television shows and movies, mostly appearing as himself.
He has his own magazine, record label and production house. “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” was a reality television series based on Gene’s family life.
Interesting Facts
- His stage name is a tribute to the Rockabilly singer Jumpin’ Gene Simmons.
- Gene’s mother survived internment in a Nazi concentration camp.
- The Beatles had a huge influence on Gene’s musical style.
- He has four half-siblings who all still live in Israel.
- Gene is a Republican and endorsed Mitt Romney for president in 2012 and openly said he regretted voting for Obama in 2010.
- He is a huge supporter of many charities and even went to Zambia to meet some of the families he supported financially.
- In November of 2017, he was banned for life from the Fox News network after disrupting a staff meeting and telling inappropriate jokes.
- Gene is open about his promiscuous lifestyle. He claims that he’s slept with more than 5,000 women has the evidence to prove it.
- In 2005, Gene was sued by a former girlfriend who said her reputation was ruined after she was featured in a documentary about the rocker.
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Highlights
1.Gene is Israeli-American and was born in Israel to Jewish parents.
2.His education was hugely important to him.
3.Gene’s appeared on a number of television shows, including a reality show that was based on his life with his family.
4.The first band Gene was a part of was the Long Island-based rock group “Lynx.”
5.Gene and Paul Stanley were the original two members of KISS. They are also the two lead vocalists.
6.Without Gene, KISS would not have been known for their iconic face makeup. Gene wanted to add something extra to their performances and made sure that audiences were aware.
7.Gene and Paul remain the only two KISS bandmembers who never left the group. They helped orchestrate a wildly popular reunion tour in 1996.
8.Gene is a staunch supporter of foreign policies that are favorable to Israel. He once commented that he was upset about voting for Barack Obama because of his political stance on American-Israeli relations.
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Favorite Quotes from Gene Simmons
“Believe me, the library is the temple of God. Education is the most sacred religion of all.”
“ Before I ever knew what the word entrepreneur was, I realized in America and in the Western part of the world in general, you are allowed to be whatever you want to be. And that is all anyone should ever expect from the capitalist system. The rest is up to you.”
“Men want success and sex. Women want everything.”
“Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.”
“Women are from Mars, men have a penis”
“Women, you have all this power, I’m telling you. In business, you have something called an inferred fiduciary duty to yourself. Look at the other hugely successful women in the industry, commerce, science and everywhere else and you’ll see women who are feminine, beautiful but also do not rely on men for their self-empowerment.”
“So much of our popular mythology focuses on the negative aspects of power that we forget that gaining power is, perhaps, the only way to enable ourselves to make a difference in our lives and the lives of others.”
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Tips for success from Gene Simmons
1.Education is essential for everything you do. You owe it to yourself to learn more about whatever it is that you’re passionate about.
2.Know your worth. Especially if you are a woman, you should know how powerful you are. There are too many women who think that they have to rely on a man to be successful and that’s completely not true.
3.You have to stick your neck out there and go after the opportunities that you want. You might be afraid and that is ok. Even if you don’t feel confident, go for it still. You never know how it is going to pay off.
4.You don’t need much to survive. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more and being successful but always remember to be happy with what you have.
5.Societal customs like marriage are not important unless they’re important to you. If you and your partner want to make a lifelong commitment, make sure that it is on your own terms.
We will also talk about such musicians as Garth Brooks, Kirk Franklin, Charlie Put, Chaka Khan. And about many others.
