KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, who tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week ago, gave an update on his breakthrough case during a September 8 appearance on KTLA 5 Morning News. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yes, I did test positive for COVID, but because I got my Pfizer vaccines twice, and because my immune system is really good, I have zero — zero — side effects. Literally, I don’t feel a thing. But out of respect to everybody else, I’ve self-quarantined right here in L.A. And the days have passed — it’s now been 13 or 14 days, so I’m perfectly fine. Tomorrow, KISS [will perform] at Irvine. We’re gonna shake the heavens.”
Asked what reaction he had when he was told that he tested positive for COVID-19, Gene said: “I was shocked. I have to tell you I was shocked, because everything was fine — the energy level was great, the appetite was great — great, great, great. And I never get sick… I don’t get headaches.
“You’ve gotta take care of your health, for all of you,” he continued. “Even the Flat Earth Society that believes the earth is flat. There is such a thing, there’s a pandemic. Out of respect to your neighbor, out of courtesy, you don’t want anybody getting sick. Get tested. Get your vaccines. It’s okay.
“I mean, it’s shocking that if you’re sneezing, and that’s not a life-threatening event, you would immediately put your hand up, ’cause you don’t want germs to spread. But with COVID, people have a knee-jerk reaction.
“Please get vaccinated,” he reiterated. “It’s gonna be okay. Get over yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about the rest of us.”
KISS announced on August 31 that its next four tour dates would be pushed back after Simmons tested positive for the virus and was experiencing “mild” symptoms. Just days earlier, Simmons‘s bandmate Paul Stanley also tested positive for COVID-19.
The postponed shows were set to take place on September 1 in Clarkston, Michigan; September 2 in Dayton, Ohio; September 4 in Tinley Park, Illinois; and September 5 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The legendary rockers were previously forced to reschedule their August 26 show in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, August 28 concert in Raleigh, North Carolina and August 29 gig in Atlanta, Georgia after Stanley tested positive.
Stanley reassured fans that he was “fine” and had not been hospitalized, but said he was suffering “flu-like symptoms” before finally testing positive.
On August 30, he wrote on Twitter: “My COVID symptoms were MILD compared to many others and let me tell you… It kicked my ass. It’s over now.”
When Stanley first tested positive on August 26, KISS said the whole band and the crew members who are traveling with them on the tour are fully vaccinated.
Members of KISS “and their crew have operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows,” the band wrote in the statement.
“The tour also has a COVID safety protocol officer on staff full-time that is ensuring everyone is closely following all CDC guidelines,” the statement continued.
KISS kicked off the summer 2021 leg of its “End Of The Road” farewell tour on August 18 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The concert marked the band’s first full-length live appearance in front of an audience since March 2020.
KISS‘s farewell trek was launched in January 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.
KISS‘s current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).
Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (guitar), KISS staged its first “farewell” tour in 2000, the last to feature the group’s original lineup.
