Longtime KISS bassist Gene Simmons is letting his fans know that he’s OK after a recent health scare during a concert. Simmons offered an update after falling sick during the band’s concert in Manaus, Brazil, on Wednesday night. It led to KISS abruptly stopping the show and Simmons finishing up the band’s song “Say Yeah” sitting down.
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“Hey, everybody, thanks for the good wishes. I’m fine,” Simmons wrote on Twitter. “Yesterday at Manaus Stadium in Brazil, [I] experienced weakness because of dehydration. We stopped for about five minutes, I drank some water, and then all was well. Nothing serious. Tomorrow, Bogota Stadium. See you there!”
KISS Bassist Gene Simmons Said Concert Incident Was ‘Not A Big Deal’
In a follow-up tweet, Simmons again said that the incident was “not a big deal” and pinned the blame on the hot climate. “Last night we played Amazon jungle Stadium/Brazil. Humidity and temperature were sky-high,” Simmons explained. “I was dehydrated and was forced to sit for a song. We got back on stage in five minutes and finished the show.”
Video footage from Wednesday’s performance shared online showed lead singer Paul Stanley telling the audience “we’re gonna have to stop” in order to take care of a seated Simmons, who was surrounded by crew members and then offered water, Entertainment Weekly reports.
“You know how much we love Gene, and he’s obviously sick,” Stanley said. “And we’re gonna have to stop to take care of him, ’cause we love him, right?”
Band Is Currently On Its End of the Road World Tour
KISS is currently on their farewell tour, also known as the End of the Road World Tour, which was announced in 2019 but subsequently postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They will perform their final concerts in Madison Square Garden in New York City in December.
“We’re finishing up where we started,” Stanley said on The Howard Stern Show last month. “This is the end. When you come to see the show, it’s awesome. It’s the most high-tech show out there and yet it’s clearly a kick-ass rock & roll show… It’s everything KISS, just amped up and ramped up.”
Meanwhile, the band’s biopic titled Shout It Out Loud will be out in 2024. The movie has been acquired by Netflix. It will cover the band’s beginnings to its heights in rock ‘n’ roll. Longtime manager Doc McGhee says the movie focuses on the band’s early years. “It’s a biopic about the first four years of KISS,” McGhee said on The Rock Experience with Mike Brunn podcast. “We’re just starting it now. We’ve already sold it. We have a director. … That’s moving along and that’ll come in ’24.”
