KISS bassist Gene Simmons shared his thoughts on British rock bands’ superiority over American acts during a recent interview with Terrie Carr for WDHAFM.
“We loved the English version of what the Americans invented, which was rock and roll and blues, and it became rap and all that. It all started here [in the U.S.], but come on, the English gave us The Beatles and Zeppelin and stuff, and we gave them The Grateful Dead. It’s just leagues apart,” Simmons said.
“Nothing American ever rose to that level with people that play guitar. Nothing — not even close,” he continued. “And when you list the top — I don’t know — 10 bands of all time, they were all English or Irish. The Beatles and The Stones and the English invasion and stuff — on and on and on. Amazing songs.”
Simmons revealed how British bands influenced KISS’s approach to music. “And so we started writing songs like that, and not copying or anything, but within that vein. And it came easy,” he explained. “Paul and I were long students of songwriting and the English bands and everything. The Kinks — oh my goodness, those early years. ‘Waterloo Sunset’ was so, so simple, stripped of even production.”
“The thought behind those songs [on KISS’s first album] was we wanted to put together the band we never saw on stage. So on one hand we had sort of this love of Anglophile music and those English bands, but then there was the sameness of, if you didn’t know much, you couldn’t tell the difference between The Kinks or The Stones or The Beatles and everything,” he added.
The KISS co-founder emphasized The Beatles’ influence on their band structure. “They all had basically the same hairstyle type, same age — except The Beatles, everybody sang, everybody was a star. That was a major, major difference. And so we looked at The Beatles as a template. Wouldn’t it be great if everybody sang lead? That was like, ‘Wait a minute.’ In The Stones, it was [Mick] Jagger. In The Kinks, it was Ray Davies — like on and on and on. Aerosmith, it’s Steven [Tyler] — nobody else sings. But in KISS, everybody sings songs. And that was a thing that was appealing to us.”
Simmons’s comments reflect KISS’s deep connection to British musical influences and their own rock history journey.
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame documented KISS’s unique sound development. The band blended British glam with distinctive New York rock sensibilities to create their signature style.
Records from KISS Online highlight the band’s remarkable achievements. They have sold over 80 million albums worldwide. Their live performances have exceeded 2,000 shows throughout their career.
Historical data from official sources shows their theatrical performance style drew inspiration from British rock. The band became known for their elaborate makeup, costumes, and pyrotechnics.
The band’s dedication and innovative performance approach earned them recognition. Their 2014 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame cemented their legacy in rock history. This achievement stands in contrast to Simmons’s current assessment of American rock’s position compared to British bands.
