The School of Greatness
Gene Simmons Opens Up: Coming To America With Nothing, The Mindset That Built An Empire & The Man Behind The Makeup
Wed, 4 Jun 2025
Leave an Amazon Rating or Review for my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!When Gene Simmons tells me about surviving concentration camps through his mother's courage, I realize this isn't just another rock star story—it's an American dream forged in fire. The KISS frontman takes me on a journey from a Hungarian refugee who couldn't speak English to building one of the most recognizable brands on earth, more famous than Mount Rushmore itself. What strikes me most is his raw honesty about the price of success, from decades of reckless behavior to finally learning commitment at 62, and his mother's fearless escape to America that taught him the work ethic that built an empire. This conversation reveals how an outsider's perspective, unshakeable self-belief, and relentless pursuit of excellence transformed a poor immigrant kid into the demon who redefined what it means to be a rock star.Gene’s websiteIn this episode you will learn:Why feeling like an outsider became Gene's greatest advantage in building a global brandHow watching The Beatles on TV at 13 sparked a revolution that led to stadium domination in 18 monthsThe exact mindset shift that turned Gene from victim to victor in every situationWhy Gene believes the hunt for greatness matters more than achieving itHow to build unshakeable confidence that makes others want to follow youFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1780For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Jon Bon Jovi – greatness.lnk.to/1608SCMatthew McConaughey – greatness.lnk.to/1022SCTeddy Swims – greatness.lnk.to/1611SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX
Chapter 1: Did Gene Simmons ever doubt himself?
Oh, hell no. I know that I'm not the best looking guy in the world or the smartest or anything, but I will walk into any room and I will walk out with your girlfriend. There's no doubt in my mind.
Simmons and Kiss revolutionized rock in the 1970s and 80s.
One of the most influential rock bands of all time.
30 gold records, 14 platinum records. Kiss! Gene Simmons!
Rock! Don't ever take from anybody. Just roll up your sleeves and go to work. Wow. What do all great champions do? They psych themselves up. I'm going to win it. I am the champion. I am the greatest. I heard Muhammad Ali doing that. I never heard a human being talk like that publicly. Like, who is this guy? Actually, he was stating fact.
It's our problem that we thought, well, you're not supposed to say that. Why not? Why not set greatness in front of you and then work towards achieving it?
Yeah, that's true. What have you learned about fame that you wish everyone knew?
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Chapter 2: What key lessons did Gene learn from his mother's courage?
If you become famous.
And I heard an interesting story or a very powerful story that When you and your mother were trying to get to America and trying to come here and migrate to America, what was the lesson you learned from your mom and the courage to get over?
My father had gone, so the provider was no longer there because my mother stayed at home while he worked. So once my father left, my mother was forced to go out there while I went to school. So when I'd come home from school at three, four, whatever it is in the afternoon, I was alone at six, seven years of age and would cry myself to sleep because my mother would
work until late at night, six days out of the week. There was no such thing as five days, two days off. And in Israel, it's the Sabbath, Saturday that you take off. Sunday, you go right back to work. from 6 a.m. until 7, 7.30 p.m. And so both of my mother's brothers became successful in America.
They already came to America.
Yes, right before World War II. My mother and my father went to Israel in 1949, and both brothers had already started working in America. And the stories I could tell you about my Uncle George,
until the day he passed he loved wonder bread in those days for twenty-nine cents you could buy a whole loaf he would buy a whole loaf with water and sit in a park bench in central park and to him it was like eating cake from kings he would just eat the bread and drink water because you didn't have it in Europe.
The fact that he could eat an entire loaf of bread by himself and nobody would kill him to get a slice of bread was beyond anything. Because Europe never really recovered from the 1929 stock market crash. People were killing each other all the time. And in concentration camps, if you had a loaf of bread, they'd kill you for that. It's a different world.
In America, the land of plenty, even during World War II, people ate. We grew wheat.
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Chapter 3: How did watching The Beatles change Gene's life?
We had no hit singles, nothing. Really? Yes, it became what the Germans called Zeitgeist, the water cooler conversation. The way you spread your brand in those days were rock magazines, circus and raves and all these colorful magazines that had posters. And we were always on the cover because the rest of the band is just boring. Yeah, they're not visual.
So our brand and people, you know, the fans, we started selling out multiple days in arenas before we even had a gold record.
It went fast backwards. So you guys developed a brand almost before you developed the music. That's right. It's like you were like, let's create the image of us. Let's create the persona.
You're giving us too much credit. We didn't know anything.
You weren't thinking about it. No.
But that's what happened. You were just rock and roll gypsies. Right. You were glad you didn't have to do nine to five.
Right.
And be in the same cubicle, doing the same thing.
That's interesting. Did you intentionally think about, let's be so different so that people pay attention? Or were you just like, let's have fun and just be playful? Or how did this character develop?
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Chapter 4: What was the journey of KISS before they became famous?
Just a lot of... What was the biggest licensing deal that Kiss did? Kiss? Beyond the band, what was the biggest co-branded or licensing deal? Or deal beyond?
Hello Kitty would probably be the biggest. Because there were endless... And then they changed CEOs. Actually, the CEO flew in to LA. We had dinner. And he and I are sitting next to each other. We're talking about the future. OK, we're going to ramp up this. It's clearly working and everything. And he said, as soon as I get back to Japan on Monday, it was the weekend coming up.
I'm going to draw papers and we're going to do some big, big, big stuff. And then he passed away. And the new CEO just didn't see it. Oh, that's a bummer.
Where is the biggest revenue come from these days then with the brand? Is it licensing? Is it still royalties? Is it still music?
All of it. Music less because entire generations of fans don't pay for music. They download and voucher. Both of our kids, Nick and Sophie, are massive on Spotify and Schmodify and all the other childlike things. Words. Yahoo! Google. And Sophie, for instance, is managers, co-writes. She's co-writing a song right now with the writer who wrote, Do you believe in love? You know, for Cher.
What a small world. Yeah, it's just...
Small world, that's a Disneyland. It's a what? It's a small world, that's a Disneyland.
It's a small world after all. As a matter of fact, I recorded When You Wish Upon a Star for my solo record because of how Emotionally, Jiminy Cricket affected my life. I thought when that little insect in the movie goes, Gene, when you wish upon. I thought he was singing to me. I was 12. Wow. I went out there like in a religious epiphany.
I can do great things because Jiminy, your dreams come true. i can do it and that's why i like if you're not a bad guy that's why i like guys like you because sometimes some someplace in wisconsin there's somebody who can who's who possibly might do great things and the only thing holding himself back is himself and if you can just light that little fire in the belly that you know that
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Chapter 5: What role did makeup play in KISS's branding?
But they had a presence. Excuse me? But they had a presence, yeah.
Some illogical belief in themselves.
Yeah.
Whether it's Caesar or Hitler or Napoleon, they have no right to have this, you know, and Some of them were real bad guys. Small people with, but on the inside, giants. Giant bad guys and giant good guys.
I'm curious, with all the experience, the travel, the people you've met, who in your mind
is one of the greatest musicians or the greatest leaders in the world that you've met or seen let's talk keep it in the music world who's in the top in the music world that you're like man that guy or that gal's got it or that group has got it beyond yourself and kiss who else who have you seen or met or watched that you're like wow they really have it well clearly the beatles
are above and beyond anything that anybody's seen in music over 200 years easily, not since the Renaissance, which is how you say it, not the Renaissance. You have to understand they only existed seven years And they came from a place that was a pool filled with liver, liver pool, where nothing ever happened, high unemployment rate, no experience, no resume.
know nothing and yet uh i wanna hold your hand um what she loves you yeah yeah yeah and that last chord that minor ninth is as sophisticated a chord if you know about music yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah That thing is almost like a jazz chord, unheard of in rock music. And okay, look, I'm going to give you something you'll be able to understand. Satisfaction is one of the great songs.
It takes about 40 minutes, 40 seconds to get to the first thing. I can't get no satisfaction. Yeah. Yeah. or anything. Sunshine of your love. I did it backwards. It's a It takes about 50 seconds to get I've been waiting so long and all that. On and on and on. The Beatles. I just wrote a new song. What is it called? It's called Help. How does it go? It goes like this. Help! I need somebody, help!
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