David Lee Roth has responded to recent insults by KISS‘ Gene Simmons by posting the same image 18 times on Instagram.
Simmons recently lamented DLR’s current performance abilities in a new interview with Rolling Stone. While confirming that Roth was no longer providing support on KISS’ farewell tour, the KISS singer-bassist initially praised the Van Halen frontman, but then made disparaging remarks about the singer. “It bears noting that during Dave’s heyday, nobody did what he did,” began Simmons. “He was the ultimate frontman. Not Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything.”
He continued, “And then, I don’t know what happened to him… something. And you get modern-day Dave. I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, you know, doing all that. I don’t want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.”
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Those words didn’t sit well with Roth, who took to Instagram to post the meme-like image of a child in sunglasses flipping the bird. “Roth to Simmons:” reads the caption. As mentioned, DLR spammed his own Instagram feed with 18 middle fingers directed at the KISS bassist.
Roth had been opening for KISS’ “End of the Road” tour prior to the pandemic, and was originally slated to appear at the rescheduled shows, as well. The 2021 US leg kicked off without him this week and runs through an October 9th show in Tampa, Florida. In DLR’s place, performance painter David Garibaldi is serving as the opening act.
KISS also have a 12-date Las Vegas residency coming up. As part of the band’s farewell run, they’ll play a series of shows at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino. The residency kicks off with a three-date New Year’s run (December 29th and 31st, and January 1st). The band will then return to the same venue for nine more dates spanning from January 19th through February 5th. Tickets to both the regular tour dates and the residency are available via Ticketmaster.
See David Lee Roth’s Instagram response to Gene Simmons below, or check out all 18 posts of the same photo on DLR’s Instagram page.
