Gene Klein (born Chaim Witz[a] on August 25, 1949), known
professionally as Gene Simmons, is an Israeli American musician,
singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor, author and
television personality. Also known by his stage persona the Demon, he
is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded
with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in the early 1970s.
Simmons has a baritone singing voice which contrasts with Paul Stanley
and Peter Criss' tenor voices.Simmons was born as Chaim Witz on August
25, 1949 at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel to Jewish emigrants from
Hungary. His mother, Florence Klein (née Flóra Kovács), was born in
Jánd, Hungary, and survived internment in Nazi concentration camps.
She and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only members of the family
to survive the Holocaust. His father, Ferenc "Feri" Yehiel Witz, was a
carpenter. Simmons spent his early childhood in Tirat Carmel, and was
raised in a Jewish household. He practiced playing his guitar for
hours on end. He has said that his family was "dirt poor," scraping by
on rationed bread and milk. At age seven, he began to pick wild fruit
and sell it on roadsides together with a friend.At age eight, he
emigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in New York
City. His father remained in Israel, where he had one other son and
three daughters. In the United States, Simmons changed his name to
Eugene Klein, adopting his mother's maiden name. At age nine, he
briefly attended a Jewish religious school, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas,
before transferring to a public school. He later attended Richmond
College and Sullivan County Community College, both in New York, and
chose a stage name in tribute to the rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene
Simmons. Before his musical career began, Klein worked a variety of
jobs in the city. An "excellent typist", he served as an assistant to
an editor of the fashion magazine Vogue, and also spent several months
as a sixth grade instructor on the Upper West Side.
professionally as Gene Simmons, is an Israeli American musician,
singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor, author and
television personality. Also known by his stage persona the Demon, he
is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded
with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in the early 1970s.
Simmons has a baritone singing voice which contrasts with Paul Stanley
and Peter Criss' tenor voices.Simmons was born as Chaim Witz on August
25, 1949 at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel to Jewish emigrants from
Hungary. His mother, Florence Klein (née Flóra Kovács), was born in
Jánd, Hungary, and survived internment in Nazi concentration camps.
She and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only members of the family
to survive the Holocaust. His father, Ferenc "Feri" Yehiel Witz, was a
carpenter. Simmons spent his early childhood in Tirat Carmel, and was
raised in a Jewish household. He practiced playing his guitar for
hours on end. He has said that his family was "dirt poor," scraping by
on rationed bread and milk. At age seven, he began to pick wild fruit
and sell it on roadsides together with a friend.At age eight, he
emigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in New York
City. His father remained in Israel, where he had one other son and
three daughters. In the United States, Simmons changed his name to
Eugene Klein, adopting his mother's maiden name. At age nine, he
briefly attended a Jewish religious school, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas,
before transferring to a public school. He later attended Richmond
College and Sullivan County Community College, both in New York, and
chose a stage name in tribute to the rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene
Simmons. Before his musical career began, Klein worked a variety of
jobs in the city. An "excellent typist", he served as an assistant to
an editor of the fashion magazine Vogue, and also spent several months
as a sixth grade instructor on the Upper West Side.
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