The band are currently on a farewell tour, where they will also visit Hungary. What people might not know is that Simmons’ parents were from Hungary and he speaks Hungarian fluently.

Early life

Gene Simmons was born on August 25, 1949, as Chaim Witz. His parents were Jewish immigrants. His mother, Florence Klein was born in Jánd, Hungary, she and her brother were the only members of her family to survive the Holocaust and she was in Nazi concentration camps. His father, Ferenc “Feri” Yehiel Witz, was a carpenter.

The family were poor, and Simmons spent his childhood in Tirat Carmel, in a Jewish household. When he was only 7, he started picking fruit to sell on roadsides.

His parents split up and at 8 he went to live in New York City with his mother, he changed his name to Eugene Klein. His father stayed in Israel, where he later had other children.

He went to college in New York and took his stage name from the singer Jumpin’ Gene Simmons. He had a few jobs including teaching and typing work he also worked as an assistant at Vogue magazine.

He had decided he wanted to be in a band in middle school, after watching The Beatles on television.  Simmons said he thought, “If I go and start a band, maybe the girls will scream at me.”

KISS

Simmons was in a few bands including Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Paul Stanley. Not happy with the band they left it to start the rock band KISS.

First to join them was Peter Criss as drummer, then Ave Frehley as lead guitarist. This was the original and best-known line-up. 

Stanley took on the role as lead performer alongside bass player Simmons with his “Demon” makeup which came from the design of comic book character Black Bolt. Simmons also learnt to breathe fire for his performances. The group played their first concert in January 1973 in New York. There were only three people in the audience!

In October 1973 KISS got a record contract and they released their self-titled first album in 1974. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured with wild stage performances and built a following of fans called the “KISS Army”. The band didn’t get popular until their live album Alive! in 1975 which included the hit single, “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

Their next successful albums were Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over, in 1976 followed by Love Guns and Alive II in 1979.  By the end of that year, KISS were the most popular band in America and doing well in the UK, Japan, Canada, Sweden and Germany.

However, Criss left the group in 1979, in 1982 Frehley also left and the band went through a few replacements before the new line-up of Stanley, Simmons, Eric Carr, and Bruce Kulick. This worked well and they began releasing more platinum albums in the eighties. The band had started performing without makeup from 1983.  Carr died in 1991 and the band took on a new drummer Eric Singer. They released the album Revenge in 1992.

There was a reunion tour of original members in 1996 back with full makeup and shows and an album Psycho Circus in 1998, their first album as the original group in almost 20 years. The original group split again, and Tommy Thayer replaced Ace Frehley joining as lead guitarist and Eric Singer replaced Peter Criss on drums. There have been farewell tours since, including the original band members in 2000.

Personal life

Simmons has been linked to Liza Minelli, Cher, and Diana Ross but now lives in California, with his wife, Canadian former Playboy Playmate and actress Shannon Lee Tweed. They have two children.

Simmons can speak Hungarian, German, English, Hebrew and some Japanese.Simmons gets involved in charities and is very vocal about politics.

Goodbye Tour

After an epic 45-year career which made them rock’n roll legends, KISS started their final ever tour in 2019 with sold-out shows across the world. The tour is again with band members Simmons and Stanley with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. The tour began in January 2019 in Canada and will finish in July 2021 in New York. 

On Thursday 16^th July 2020 KISS will perform at the Budapest Arena, HUNGARY!

The chopped pancakes known as Kaiserschmarren are not only a long-running favourite in Austria.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
350–400 ml milk
180–200 g finely ground flour
3 tbsp crystal sugar, for the topping
2 tbsp raisins
1 packet (8g) vanilla sugar
a dash of rum
some grated lemon rind
a pinch of salt
approx. 50 g butter for frying
1 tablespoon of butter shavings and crystal sugar, for caramelising
icing sugar and cinnamon for dusting

cooking time: 8–10 minutes

While the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy may have united any number of peoples under its emblem of the two eagles, when it came to his choice of meals Emperor Franz Joseph proved very loyal to his native country and region. Alongside cooked beef, he loved simple pastry dishes made from eggs, flour, milk and a little sugar, such as the light and creamy Kaiserschmarren. Rumour suggests that the thanks for this dish ought to go to a failed and shredded omelette. Whether or not that is true, the important thing is that the recipe has been passed down to us.

How to make it:

Place the raisins in a bowl, mix with the rum and leave to stand for approx. 15 minutes. Separate the eggs and place the yolks in a mixing bowl. Pour in the milk, flavor with some grated lemon rind and vanilla sugar, and add the flour. Mix to form a smooth dough.

Beat the egg whites with the crystal sugar and a small pinch of salt until it forms a firm peak, and fold into the dough mix. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C.

Let the butter melt and bubble up in one large, or two small (coated) heatproof dishes. Pour in the mixture and after 1–2 minutes scatter the soaked raisins over the top. Cook the underside until light brown, turn over using a spatula and bake for 6–8 minutes in the preheated oven until golden brown.

Tear the ‘Schmarren’ into small pieces, using two forks. Scatter the butter shavings over the top, sprinkle with some crystal sugar, and caramelize under the grill at a high heat.

Remove from the grill and arrange on pre-heated plates. Dust with icing sugar and cinnamon. Serve with baked plums, a berry ragout or fruit compote. The Kaiserschmarren can also be cooked at the top of the oven and caramelized at the end with a lid to cover.