KISS bassist and frontman Gene Simmons spoke with the Huffington Post Live where gave a few blunt tips to fellow immigrants. He insists that they must “learn to speak goddamn English” if they want to make it in America. See the video below.
56 years ago, Israeli-born Simmons immigrated to the US with his mother, and felt no need for any sort of political correctness in his explanation.
“I was welcomed by America and its people and given all the advantages of native-born children,” Simmons stated. “Which is astonishing, when you think about it, because in other countries, they would have ground me up and put me in a can of dog food. And in America I could think what I wanted to think, do as I pleased and reach for the stars.”
Getting down to specific tips, Simmons noted that a simple guideline needs to be followed. “Get rid of your accent; I did. Be a legal immigrant; I’m a legal immigrant. Come to the country, just buckle your knees a little bit, make the effort to learn the culture, assimilate to the point that you can. You’re all proud of who you are, where you come from … Great. Whatever you’re proud of, just tip your hat to America, which is the melting pot and makes it all possible. Agree to one culture that we can all communicate with and then go off and speak Swahili and Farsi and whatever you wanna talk.
I’m actually saying the thing that needs to be said, ’cause the politically correct climate is bulls–t. You don’t want to upset anybody by saying, ‘Learn to speak goddamn English.’ So, as an immigrant, I’m telling you: learn to speak goddamn English. It is the key that will unlock the keys to the kingdom.”
Also, an odd thing happened during the chat, as the interview got hijacked by the Black Lips, demanding the surrender of the KISS army. “Mr. Simmons! We’re here to tell you that the day of misogynistic, sexist rock ‘n’ roll is over! We call for the complete and utter surrender of the KISS Army. Lay down your guitars! Do you accept our terms of surrender?” the band shouted.
Gene didn’t hesitate to strike back, saying, “Yes. I surrender entirely. And I wanted to compliment your mom for the wonderful way that she designed the decorations in the basement that she lets you live in. I think it’s very attractive. I hope you get to leave your mom’s basement soon. Remember: Learn to speak English. Good education, that will help. I did it, you can too.”
After being told that the Black Lips and not merely three random guys wearing makeup and living in their mom’s basement, Simmons asked, “But they’re not black, what are they – racist? Why are they calling themselves ‘black?'”
source: ultimate-guitar.com
49 Responses
Ruminate on this one folks.
Cheers,
Dana from ET.com 🙂
The way he comes across is a bit harsh but there is some truth to what he says…on a side note, didnt u learn anything from your last gene post dana? Lol
I did, but I knew you missed the Gene news, Eric 😉
D 🙂
Gene, take MY advice, stop giving advice, because you suck at it! Even if there is “some” truth to your messages, your delivery really sucks! The only time you should open your mouth is to “sing”, spit blood, stick out your tongue, or breathe fire. Other than that, shut up! 🙂
The more I think about this, I think Gene just does this sh*t on purpose to take attention away from Ace, his jealousy is almost as big as his ego. 😉
Doug, why would Gene be jealous of Ace? Not saying he isn’t, just wondering how so?
Mike B, just “jealous” of the attention, if it’s not ALL on Gene, he gets jealous. That’s where his enormous size ego comes into play. Maybe he can’t help it, but that’s how Gene is – “look at me, look at me”, “listen to me, listen to me”, me me me, that’s our Gene! Later buddy. 🙂
Shouldn’t you be listening to the Mary J. Blige STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. LOOK ABOVE YOUR OWN HORIZONS/ SAIL THE SHIP OF SIGNS…….
Listening to WHO? Richman, you should know me by now, if it isn’t the original, or maybe Heart doing a live rendition, I’m NOT going to listen! Especially to somebody I never heard of before! 😉
Speak English !! I agree 100 percent……the Black Who ??
He’s right for once
I think Gene is just getting ambushed by the media. His advice is nothing more than tough love. As for the remarks about someone’s mother, (someone tried that at a job I worked at once….) what he was confronted with, it was more appropriate, he was blindsided, he is a big target. Gene should just quit trusting the media. I.E. what total b.s.
Staten Island Clown,
Very good point. I don’t mean to get religious but this kind of reminds me of when Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…”. Jesus wasn’t telling people to cut off their hands, he was making a hard lined point. Gene seems to be doing this a lot lately and it comes across terribly insensitive, but you provided some interesting insight and in light of some things I know about Gene, I am inclined to think your explanation makes the most sense. Great post!
He has a book coming out which features his philosophies and this is one of them.
Dana, I know you have to delete my Italian and Yiddish profanities but you have to admit that they were funny. The Yiddish one means: Go take a s$%t in the ocean.
Richman,
I knew exactly what that one meant 😉 A shonda-LOL!
D 🙂