What you need to know
Gene Simmons was always a food lover, but as he got older, he became obsessed with food.
The 76-year-old KISS rocker showed Men’s Health his home refrigerator in a Nov. 3 YouTube video and joked that he does everything he can to stay slim.
“You have to see me, girly and all,” he said. “And as you get older…I’m 76 now, the problem is your metabolism, which slows down like the ticking of an old clock. So when you’re 76, you can’t eat as much as you want.”
Simmons loves all kinds of desserts, including cookies, chocolate, and cake, and says, “I enjoy eating them with my pants on the most.”
Helping her lose weight is also the fact that the “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night” singer didn’t drink, and still doesn’t. It’s all thanks to my late mother Flora.
“She was a 14-year-old concentration camp survivor in Nazi Germany. I never wanted to break her heart,” he explained. “I’m her only child. I mean, the idea that you could be a loser and not make a living and destroy yourself. I mean, she would give her life to make sure no one would hurt me. But is it okay if I hurt myself? That’s crazy. No.”
As for the rest of his diet, Simmons said his wife, Shannon, 68, whom he married in 2011 after nearly 30 years together, likes to make homemade pickles in the couple’s garden outside, as well as the tomatoes and prunes they grow.
But sweets remain his kryptonite, especially when on tour.
“It doesn’t matter when you’re on tour,” he said. “I was eating cheesecake every day, because I was wearing 40 pounds of armor and 7-inch platform heels…I don’t have to do anything. I’m exhausted within two hours. The amount of calories you burn on stage is like an intense workout. So it didn’t matter what I ate.”
Ethan Miller/Getty
Simmons said she usually isn’t that hungry after a show, but she does crave something sweet, and in the morning she eats “a big egg white, maybe a little steak, toast, coffee,” and then doesn’t eat anything else until late in the afternoon.
The star also revealed that she’s a big fan of cereal as long as the milk is ice cold, and often mixes her cereal in one big bowl to get “a different flavor in every bite.”
When it comes to how often to work out, the answer is simple. “Not at all.”
“Like I said, I’m 76 years old. Just walk,” he said. “And you don’t have to walk miles. You don’t have to walk 10,000 steps like they say. We’re all genetically different. Just try to stand more than you sit all day. That’s all you need.”
Simmons will be participating in the KISS Cruise: Landlocked in Vegas event from November 14th to 16th, marking the band’s first reunion since their 2023 farewell tour.
