Gene Simmons was asked by Loudwire to comment on Ace Frehley‘s statement that he would have taken his own life had he not left KISS for the first time back in 1982, to which he replied:
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“That’s true. We didn’t know that or feel it, that’s what Ace felt and that’s what he told us more than once.
“‘I gotta get off the road, I’ve been self-destructive.’ He didn’t have a check and balance system there. You’re surrounded by yes-men, so if your tendency is to sedate yourself when you get back into the room…
“You are going from a million miles an hour to zero, you go back to your room and it’s hush quiet. And many people, especially people in bands, turn on themselves. They can’t deal with the quiet, or…
“Adulation itself is also bizarre. It helps to be delusional like me, so I can deal with it a lot easier. So no drugs, no booze for me, no cigarettes, nothing.
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“But if you have that gene in your system, or have self-esteem issues, you will go to the dark and deep. And again, there’s nobody stopping you.
“So, he was right, he was gonna kill himself. More than once.”