Politics and music have always had an interesting relationship. Musicians have generally left a lot of their emotions and opinions in the subject matter of songs, lyrics and the themes of their material. It’s very interesting to see when artists convey their political or economic views in such forums as interviews or publications though, and especially interesting when most of those opinions are generally considered “untrue” or to be part of the act. Just because you’re a rich and successful rockstar, does not mean that you are exempt from presenting clear and concise facts.
Gene Simmons of Kiss has always been a figure in the music industry that personifies the successes of a music empire. Kiss has been extremely successful in the music world and are the pinnacle of merchandising and branding. As expected, the frontman of Kiss has become an extremely wealthy man from the band’s fame and notoriety. So wealthy, according to San Diego Tribune, that he has admittedly been a part of the much-discussed top 1% of society for the past 30 years. Gene has no qualms about his success but his assertions on taxes, economics and politics have received massive backlash. Especially with phrases such as, “The 1 percent pays 80 percent of all taxes. Fifty percent of the population of the U.S. pays no taxes. The 1 percent provides all the jobs for everybody else. If the 1 percent didn’t exist, there would be chaos and the American economy would drop dead.”
Yikes! Gene sounds more like a politician than a musician. Granted, his income is astronomical, but his opinions need a bit of adjusting. Simmons is a big supporter of the Republican party and in recent elections a big supporter of presidential candidate and fellow one-percenter Mitt Romney. Simmons has espoused many facts and figures that were…a little light on facts, shall we say?…and he has paid dearly in the press for it. A man that is truly unapologetic and confident in his own skin, Gene is indicative of the American dream and how someone can come from nothing and make something of themselves. We applaud him for his successes, just not his take on the facts. Kiss have a large amount of fans who are “working class”, or “blue collar” or what have you. Many of these fans are nowhere near the one-percent whatsoever and unfortunately Gene’s statements on taxes appear to be a little wide of the mark to say the least. It would probably be better if he stuck to making music and commented less on politics and economics, we say.
Has Gene now created a division between his fans with his opinions? What do you think?