KISS icon Gene Simmons opened up about how his rock star lifestyle affected his family. He explained why he ultimately decided to stop cheating on his wife, Shannon Tweed, in an interview with The Daily Heretic.
Simmons reflected on his marriage to Shannon, describing how she helped steer him away from a destructive path.
“I asked my beloved Shannon. I finally got married,” Simmons said. “Two kids together. I married her twice. I’m going to marry her again. And I’ll continue to marry her as long as my heart keeps, cuz she in a very real way saved me from the dark side, which is drugs, alcohol, and all that.”
The rocker also touched on his age and health while making a comparison about fuel and performance.
“I’ve never been higher drunk in my life. I’m turning 77 and that’s why my hand doesn’t do this,” Simmons said. “Put in sand with your fuel in the car and it’s going it’s not going to run very well.”
Simmons then described the first several decades of his relationship with Shannon, admitting that infidelity was a constant during that period.
“For the first, we’ve been together, we’re about to turn 42 years together. The first 29 years together, I would mount anything,” Simmons said. “I just I didn’t care. It didn’t matter. The thing that guys say was actually profoundly accurate. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar. It lasts a few things. You know, the perfect date. I’m done. Get out.”
Simmons was asked about the impact of his behavior on Shannon. He acknowledged the pain it caused and offered insight into the mindset of performers.
“[It hurt Shannon]. That’s exactly what it is,” Simmons said. “And there was a shrink who actually offered that men who are arrogant and self-engrossed. You have you have to be some of that to be able to climb on that stage and weather the storm because most people are concerned they’re going to be judged. They don’t want to get in front of other people. Those of us who get up on stage don’t care. It’s like I’m here.”
He went on to describe how open his affairs were during those years. He noted that Shannon never issued ultimatums.
“So for the first 29 years being together, we lived together. I supported everybody,” Simmons said. “The kids were great, Nick and Sophie and stuff, but I didn’t keep any of it a secret. There were photos, the paparazzi and all that kind of stuff. And then and Shannon never tortured me. Never did that line in the sand. You either do this or you do that.”
Simmons then recalled the turning point in Belize, when he proposed despite long having resisted marriage and fatherhood.
“And at 62, I dropped to my knees in Belize. We were shooting our reality show. We had a TV show,” Simmons said. “And I despite everything I ever told myself, I dropped to my knees and I asked her to marry me. And I never wanted to have kids or get married. I didn’t want to turn into my father. Have kids and then run out on your family, which shamefully many fathers do.”
He closed by explaining the realization that pushed him to finally commit to his family.
“And so once I decided to do that, there was the epiphany, you know, this kind of ‘Hey, asshole. How could you be so self-engrossed?’ ‘Well, look, it’s my little corner here. It doesn’t affect anybody else.’ Yeah, it does,” Simmons said. “It affects Sophie and my son Nick and Shannon. Breaks their hearts. ‘Why is daddy doing that still?’ So, you got to… or get off the pot. You want to get married and have kids, you’ve got to commit. That’s what I’ve done.”
Simmons’ reflections come against the backdrop of a relationship that has long played out in the public eye. The relationship has been marked by decades of delay, tabloid scrutiny and, eventually, a lasting commitment.
Simmons and Tweed first met in 1983 at the Playboy Mansion, introduced by Hugh Hefner. The couple spent 28 years together before finally marrying on October 1, 2011. That timeline matches Simmons’ own account of nearly three decades passing before he committed to fidelity and marriage.
His infidelity was never a secret during those years. It spilled into the public sphere on more than one occasion. Tweed once walked off the set of The Joy Behar Show after Simmons made a joke about his cheating. The incident underscored just how long his behavior had been a fixture of their public story.
Even as Simmons has expressed regret over his past conduct, he has been unwavering about his commitment to Tweed going forward. In a 2023 interview, he made clear that nothing, including infidelity on her part, would ever change his resolve to stay married.
“Would I ever leave if Shannon dilly-dallied like I had? No, absolutely not. That will never happen. This will be the only marriage I ever have,” Simmons said.
That stance reinforces the message at the heart of his recent comments. After decades of self-described selfishness, Simmons now frames his marriage to Tweed as the one commitment he refuses to break, regardless of circumstance.
