The Rock & Roll Fantasy

Gene Simmons is recovering from some serious abuse, but it wasn’t at the hands of a rock critic. The Kiss singer and bassist got verbally beaten up at a celebrity roast in Los Angeles by comedians including Jeffrey Ross, Lisa Lampanelli, Carrot Top, Paul Rodriguez, and Andrew Dice Clay, along with Donald Trump, illusionist Criss Angel, and members of Simmons’s own family. As he wrote on his genesimmons.com website, “On Tuesday, November 27th, I had a new asshole drilled into me. Apparently, one wasn’t enough.” Simmons added, “On a serious note, the ticket proceeds were given to the Honorable Wounded Warriors — an organization that helps veterans — the brave and honorable men and women of the military, come home.” Footage from the roast will be included in the upcoming season of his A&E reality series called Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

***** Editor’s Note: Gene Simmons has been called a lot of names over the years, but he’s got a great sense of humor about himself and his work. Back in 2004, when he released a solo album called Asshole, right off the bat I asked him whether it was a self-titled project, and he laughed out loud. He gets it, and that’s a trait a lot of people in his position seem to be lacking a lot of the time.