“Having to be alone is the hardest thing, being able to be alone is the most beautiful thing,” the German writer Hans Krailsheimer, who became famous for his aphorisms, once put on paper. Gene Simmons seems to belong to that faction of people who are self-sufficient. “Even now, as I’m sitting here, besides Paul, I have[Stanley, KISS co-founder ed.]and we only get together when we’re doing something for the band… How can I say that without being inhuman to sound? I don’t have any friends,” the 73-year-old told US music magazine Goldmine.
“I’m more interested in what I want to do”
Apparently, deeper friendships come with too many commitments, Simmons said: “When friends means, ‘Man, I don’t know what I’m going to do this afternoon. Hey, want to come over and hang out?’ then I’m more interested in what I want to do and I don’t want to pretend I’m interested in what you want to do because I don’t.” Yeah In 2006, the bassist spoke about his renunciation of close ties: “I have almost no friends. Intentionally. I prefer acquaintances. I don’t expect anything from anyone and I don’t want anyone to come to me with their problems. Everyone is grown up.”
Who needs friends when you have brothers?
For this he wove a laurel wreath for his bandmate Paul Stanley. He was “simply the brother I never had,” and further: “I feel closer to Paul than anyone else I know.” Last year, Simmons was also referred to by Stanley as his “brother”. “His family is my family. I consider Shannon, his wife, to be my sister-in-law,” he said. “We’ve never been as close as we are now,” said the singer and guitarist a few months ago.