Gene Simmons has joked he “slept with grandma”.
The bassist and co-vocalist of rock band Kiss was known for being a womaniser when the group first started out in the early ‘70s.
The 63-year-old is now married to former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, but he quipped his lothario past sometimes still comes back to haunt him.
“We are now celebrating our 40th year since the first tour and Paul [Stanley] and I were in a Los Angeles airport and a senior woman - who I would say was in her 70s - came over with a cane and she said, ‘Oh, Gene Simmons, how are you? I haven’t seen you in forever,’” he recalled to Australian radio show hosts Kyle and Jackie O.
“I think, ‘Oh, your daughters are fans, your granddaughters are fans...’ She said, ‘Don’t you remember? 1975 backstage, during the drum solo...’ So I did some quick arithmetic: I must have been 25 and she could have been ten, 15 years older. Oh my god, I slept with grandma!”
Gene married Shannon in 2011, after almost 30 years together.
The couple have two children and the singer says it was important to be honest with his wife before they settled down.
“The cure to all this madness is my beautiful wife Shannon,” he smiled.
“I had to come clean; before you get married you should do it. Men are just messed up. First thing you need to do is just come clean, everything, all out.”
Thanks to his career in one of the most successful rock bands, people have always been interested in Gene’s life.
He says the best way to deal with fame is to not worry what others think.
“People are curious because I always led my life [my own way]. This is my life, I get to live it once, the world be damned, I am gonna do it my way!” he explained.
“I think that’s a good piece of advice for anybody: stop looking over your shoulder to see if anybody isn’t OK with you being you. It’s my life.”
