Gene Simmons Apologies For Controversial Prince Comments

KISS star Gene Simmons has posted an online apology after he sparked controversy with remarks that he made in an interview about the death of music legend Prince.

Simmons told Newsweek, "I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them. I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that.

"But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly, I'll grant you, but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death."

He added, 'The one question I have is: When we all start out and we have these big dreams and you finally get your wish--you have more money than God and fame--what is that insane gene in us, well, a lot of us, that makes us want to succumb to the cliche of cliches: drugs and alcohol?"

Gene's bandmate Paul Stanley was the first to take to social media to address the controversy. He tweeted, "Embarrassed by cold clueless statements re Prince's death. Without all the facts better to say nothing. My apologies."

Gene later took to Twitter to offer his own apology for the comments, "I just got such s*** from my family for my big mouth again. I apologize - I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts. I get angry at drug users because of my experience being around them coming up in the rock scene. In my experience they've made my life, and the lives of their loved ones, difficult.

"I was raised in a culture/crowd where drug addicts were written off as losers, and since that's the narrative I grew up with, it's been hard to change with the times. Needless to say, I didn't express myself properly here - I don't shy away from controversy, and angry critics really don't bother me at all. If I think I'm right, I'll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time, I was not. So, my apologies."

He added the following post-script, "What I will say is that there is a part of this that is journalists quote-mining things I've said in the past and applying it to new situations. This, too, happens often and not just to me. So, quote-mining, too, is wrong. It doesn't make my past quotes any more tactful, but still - be wary of click bait. The uglier they can make it seem, the more views they can get."

Gene Simmons Apologies For Controversial Prince Comments

Related Stories