KISS' Gene Simmons says he doesn’t need friends

Rock legend Gene Simmons of KISS said in a new interview that he doesn’t have friends, preferring to keep to himself and his own interests.

In the latest issue of Goldmine magazine, the polarizing musician told interviewer Ken Sharp that he prefers acquaintances and solitude instead.

“Even today as I sit here, other than Paul [Stanley], and we only get together when we do stuff for the band… How do I say this without sounding inhuman? I don't have friends,” said Simmons.

“Yeah, if friends means, 'Gee, I don't know what I'm going to do this afternoon. Hey, you want to come over and hang out?' I'm more interested in what I want to do, and I don't want to pretend that I'm interested in what you want to do because I am not.”

Simmons expressed a similar sentiment in a 2006 interview on KISS’ website, where he said, “I have almost no friends.”

He continued: “On purpose. I prefer acquaintances. I don’t expect anything from anyone and I don’t want anyone coming to me with their problems. Everyone is a grown up. But I digress.”

He called Stanley “the brother I never had” but admitted the two “don’t see each other often,” even though they live near one another.

Simmons covered other topics in the wide-ranging Goldmine interview. He approached the idea of an afterlife with detachment.

“I’m OK if there’s a heaven and a God. I’m OK with it. I’m also OK if there’s nothing,” he said.

“I lean towards nothing. My question is, if we get an afterlife, do mosquitoes? Maybe my mother’s sort of wise statement about every day above ground is a good day, and that’s it.”

Simmons is currently touring as part of KISS’ ongoing farewell tour, reports Consequence.