Kiss bassist and co-founder Gene Simmons has revealed that Eddie Van Halen once considered joining Kiss during a turbulent moment in Van Halen‘s history — and that Simmons personally convinced the guitar legend not to do it.
As one of the earliest champions of Van Halen, Simmons played a crucial role in the band’s rise. He famously discovered the group after stumbling into a performance at Los Angeles’ Starwood club in 1976, an experience he later said left him “incredulous.” Simmons went on to produce the band’s legendary Zero demo, which included early versions of songs that would later become classics such as “Runnin’ With the Devil” and “House of Pain.”
Despite his enthusiasm, Simmons ultimately stepped away from managing or producing Van Halen after encountering resistance from Paul Stanley, manager Bill Aucoin, and existing Kiss commitments. Though according to Simmons, the paths of Kiss and Van Halen nearly crossed again in 1982, when Kiss were recording Creatures of the Night following the departure of guitarist Ace Frehley.
In an interview with MusicRadar published on December 29, Simmons said Eddie Van Halen contacted him amid growing tensions with David Lee Roth during the Diver Down era: “Eddie told me, ‘Roth is driving me nuts. I can’t take it. I gotta leave. I know you’re looking for a lead guitar player. Do you want me in the band?'” Simmons recalled.
Eddie soon drove over to the studio — an experience Simmons described as terrifying due to Van Halen‘s doorless Jeep and aggressive driving. After grabbing lunch, Eddie listened to Kiss‘s new material and reacted enthusiastically. “He heard some of the tracks and was like, ‘Oh, I really like that!'”
Despite the opportunity to recruit one of rock’s greatest guitarists, Simmons says he advised Eddie against joining Kiss, arguing that Van Halen was fundamentally built around Eddie‘s playing. “I said, ‘Eddie, a band is worse than a marriage,'” Simmons explained. “‘But with Van Halen, everything begins and ends with you — it’s all about the guitar.'”
Simmons likened Eddie‘s role in Van Halen to Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin and compared his creative gravity to Jimi Hendrix. “There wouldn’t be room for Eddie in Kiss,” Simmons said. “It would be like putting Jeff Beck or Hendrix in AC/DC. Eddie would have taken over.”
Looking back, Simmons believes he made the morally right decision by encouraging Eddie to stay with Van Halen — even if it meant the band eventually losing Roth. Van Halen went on to record 1984, their final album with Roth, before ushering in the Sammy Hagar era and achieving even greater commercial success.
“I love Roth—that’s still my favorite era of Van Halen,” Simmons said. “But you can get another lead singer. When Hagar joined, they became a bigger band.”
He compared the situation to AC/DC, who reached new heights after the death of Bon Scott: “So that rule — ‘You can’t lose the lead singer?'” Simmons concluded. “Actually, you can.”
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