KISS frontman Gene Simmons got behind the White House crackdown on illegal immigration this week — as the star descended on DC for a pair of high-profile events that will take him from the Kennedy Center to Congress.
Simmons, 76, who was born in Israel and came to the US as a child, told The Post that migrants seeking to enter the US should wait in line just like he did.
“There are laws that are on the books. And if you break the law, you’re a criminal. Illegal immigrants, undocumented – everybody uses a political term,” he said.
“An illegal immigrant is a criminal. And I understand everybody comes from hardship. But you’re not going to win that argument with me. My mother was in a concentration camp and our whole family was wiped out” in the Holocaust, said the rocker.
Simmons delved into politics on a whirlwind trip where he’ll testify in the Senate about a legal “loophole” that he said is ripping off a new generation of musicians including his own kids. The iconic band’s bassist and co-lead singer is set to collect an award at the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday along with other surviving original members, and says he’ll greet President Trump, who announced the awardees in August.
He noted that many migrants to the US hail from countries ruled by despots like Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. “I know it’s tough, it’s really tough. But we have a process and my mother and I both waited years before we were allowed into America. The American Dream is alive,” he said.
The Queens-bred musician is wary about another naturalized American, Socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mahmdani – but is willing to give him some latitude.
“Give the guy a chance and see what he does. Before the election everybody had lots of things to say. He has been duly elected by the population in New York,” he said, weeks after Trump’s stunning love-festin the Oval Office with the mayor.
“Let’s see what he does. The soundbites and the research I’ve done on the man does not appeal to me. But Werner von Braun was a former Nazi of the German Nazi war machine … and the first thing America did was hire him,” he said, referencing the key figure in the US space program. “In fact when KISS went out on tour we played the Von Braun Civic Center in Alabama,” he recalled.
Simmons will try using his famously protracted tongue to try to persuade lawmakers when he testifies before a Senate Judiciary subpanel Dec. 9 about the American Music Fairness Act. “You can call me Mr. Glib,” he quipped.
“America’s music is the world’s music. Our stars are worldwide stars. Shockingly, Elvis, Frank Sinatra – even our brotherly honoree George Strait himself, who is being honored at the Kennedy Center Honors, don’t get paid for the songs that they sing on radio. This is about recording artists who simply have never gotten paid. It’s insanity.”
“Why is it fair that radio can make almost $14 billion this last year and the artists that they play on the radio get zero? How does that work out?” He says his daughter Sophie Simmons, who penned a K-pop hit and performs her own music, has gotten 1 billion streams but only banked $6,000.
“You think I’m going to allow radio not to pay my children? I know where you live,” he said, adding an expletive.
Simmons says the legislation, which has bipartisan sponsors, has a real chance, although the industry helped block earlier efforts. “I know the president a little bit. We spent some time together before he became political. He will sign this,” Simmons said.
Simmons wouldn’t confirm his own net worth when asked if he had banked an eye-popping estimated $400 million during his decades in the music business. He and his bandmates got rich through performances and a merchandising bonanza while KISS sold 100 million records and recorded a string of hits. “I’m successful. I was thinking of buying Rhode Island,” he deadpanned.
The teetotaler also provided an update on his October SUV crash into a parked caron the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, saying it was due to dehydration.
“Totally my fault. That day I had meetings from 7am until late at night … I didn’t drink water the whole day. And I drank a lot of coffee. It’s called dehydration. You know, big word – like gymnasium,” he said. “Everything’s fine, heart’s fine. They closed down the highway. It was crazy.”
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