EVERYBODY KNOWS GENE Simmons. Or at least, they think they know Gene Simmons. Kiss co-founder, blood-dribbler, tongue-waggler and possessor of one of rock’s biggest egos. But long before he became The Demon, he was Chaim Witz, a kid born in Israel and raised in America by a single mother, struggling to find his identity until he discovered rock’n’roll. Charming, witty and even a little self-deprecating, rock’s greatest self-promoter shares just what makes him tick.

MOM KNOWS BEST

“My father left us when I was about six or seven so I was raised by my mother, who was plenty. She taught me the most important lesson I ever learned, which is every day above ground is a good day. From her perspective, being a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II when she was 14, her words actually meant something. Good piece of advice for anybody out there: