Gene Simmons says it’s better to be ‘rich and miserable’ after charging $12,000 to be his assistant
Turns out money can buy happiness.
Gene Simmons has declared it’s better to be ‘rich and miserable’ than be poor after charging fans $12,000 to be his personal assistant.
The KISS legend came under fire after offering fans the chance to act as his roadie for the day – at the cost of a cool $12,495 (£9,678).
As part of his US solo tour, the I Was Made For Lovin’ You hitmaker gave one fan per show extensive behind-the-scenes access.
That solo tour has now had 17 of the 26 dates axed with little explanation offered except for reassurances that it’s not connected to his health.
It seems it had nothing to do with the roadie VIP backlash as Gene has said it’s ‘better to be rich than poor’.
‘I developed a harder skin and for myself, realised that everything was about the search for power and money, which is not a very romantic notion,’ he told Ultimate Classic Rock in an upcoming podcast.
He ‘developed a hard skin’ when it came to money (Picture: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for HISTORY)Gene continued: ‘But I didn’t want to be poor, because I know what that felt like. All I ever did was try to figure out how to become powerful and make lots of money, for survival.’
After surviving Nazi concentration camps, the rocker’s mother worked six days a week in a ‘sweat factory’ to make ends meet.
‘The only thing money ever does, really, is give you the freedom to do stuff you actually like doing,’ he added.
The Lick It Up hitmaker said that ‘fame was nice’, especially in the peak of KISS’ popularity but there’s a ‘lot of famous people who are relatively poor, that’s not a lot of fun.’
Gene shared that there are also a lot of people who are ‘filthy rich’ behind the scenes who fans would not even know the names of.
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‘It’s better to be rich than poor, it really is,’ he concluded. ‘And if you’re a miserable f*** it’s still better to be a rich, miserable f***. That’s all I ever tried to do.’
That dream has been fully realised by Gene who is worth a whopping $400,000,000 (£308,987,600) according to Celebrity Net Worth.
This might have been why fans were so put out when he was offering for fans to work for him for a day to the tune of $12k.
Jobs include helping with ‘arrive & load-in to the venue’, ‘go over the Band’s Show day schedule’ in the morning and ‘help the band set up.’
It’s not all work though as the lucky fan will get to have a meal with Gene, 75, and be brought out on stage and introduced to the crowd.
With so many of the gigs quietly cancelled only a handful of fans will get this experience — if anyone purchased the package that is.
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