The truth is, right now live shows are in the pits. You pay more for the price of one ticket than you do for a CD, which will last you hundreds of hours. And I think people are finally getting up and saying, "Okay, give me something for the money I spent on this ticket." Kiss was born to be the band that we never saw on stage-we said that a long time ago, and it holds true today. People want to believe that there's more to life than the guy with the wrinkled shirt running around on stage screaming, "I'm miserable. I'm miserable. I'm gonna kill myself-now excuse me while I get off stage and hop into my Rolls-Royce."
Once you become a millionaire, the wrinkled shirt you wear on stage is every bit as much a costume as the costumes we wear-except that we're clear about it and ours look much better. Hey, I understand-you're a garage band, you don't have a penny in your pocket and you dress like a bum because you can't afford better. Fine. But once you can afford better, I don't believe it. "I'm suicidal-I wanna kill myself." I don't buy it. Anyone out there who has a conscience about having too much money or too much fame, let me answer your prayers: Number one, move to Tibet because nobody will know who the fuck you are, and number two, if you feel you have too much money and can't live with it, write a personal check to Gene Simmons and I'll help you out. It'll make me happier and it'll make you happier because you won't have to deal with your conscience.
Gene Simmons