Gene Simmons

Eugene Klein, born Chaim Witz (Hebrew: חיים ויץ‎‎, [xaˈim ˈvit͡s], born August 25, 1949), known professionally as Gene Simmons, is an Israeli-American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor and television personality. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bass guitarist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded with rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in the early 1970s. 2Biography 3Early life Simmons was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949, at Rambam Hospital, in Haifa, Israel. At age 8, he immigrated to New York City with his mother. Simmons was raised in a Jewish household, where he practiced playing his guitar hours without end. His mother, Florence Klein (originally Flóra Kovács), was born in Jánd, Hungary. The name Klein, which means "small" in German, has the Hungarian equivalent Kis (a common Hungarian surname); this, however, did not give the band its name. Simmons' mother survived internment in Nazi concentration camps. She and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only members of the family to survive the Holocaust. Simmons' father, Ferenc Witz, also Hungarian-born, remained in Israel, where he had one other son and three daughters, and worked as a carpente