THE BIG ISSUE: Gene Simmons
I�m an only child, so all my life I�ve been delusional.
When I first came to America with my mother [from his native Israel] I heard about Superman flying through the air and having super strength. I remember being on a beach when I was eight, putting a towel round my neck and standing there with my hands on my hips, and as the wind blew my cape fluttered behind me. In my mind I had an image of millions of people grovelling at my feet and paying homage to me, Superman.
I wouldn�t say I was a good looking guy, but I could walk up to the best looking guy�s girl and walk away with her.
I knew I wasn�t the best looking or smartest guy in the room but I also knew that, as Shakespeare says, the world�s a stage and we�re all actors. I had the people skills and the language skills. This idea of looking people in the eyes works very well with the female of the species. Was I doing the Lord�s work and spreading my seed at 16? The answer is yes.
I�ve always been happy. I�ve never had the need to have friends.
The thing about friends is, while it�s a nice sugar coating and a cushion, you really can�t do what you want to do. There�s just too much I want to do � I don�t want to have to make excuses why I can�t hang out or go shopping. Taylor Swift is a wonderful girl � I�ve met her, she�s sweet, charming and kind � but this idea of going in a group of people to events, it�s not in my DNA. Friends demand time, watering � why did you say that, you hurt my feelings... I don�t want to worry about people�s feelings. You�re a grown-up, take care of your own feelings. I�m busy building my empire.
When I was young, my main ambition was to become rich and famous.
As soon as I saw girls screaming at the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, I thought, that looks like a good job. You get to travel the world and women want to have your children. Not much later, I realised it wasn�t just about music � it was then, and it is now, the music business. And I took care of that. As I sit here speaking to you now, I�m proudly aware that KISS is the number one American gold-record champion of all time. Which is bizarre, because we only ever had about two hit singles
