Gene Simmons’ opinion on Iron Maiden

If there is one thing people cannot say about Kiss co-founder, bassist, and singer Gene Simmons, it is that he is not honest when talking about other bands. He has never hesitated to share his real opinion about other artists.

Over the past decades, he has had the chance to see many incredible bands rise and witness them in their prime. One of them was Iron Maiden and he has already shared his thoughts on the band.

What is Gene Simmons’ opinion on Iron Maiden

“Took my son Nick and his friend Alex (producer Giorgio Morodor’s son) to see Iron Maiden. Maiden were terrific. While I usually get the lion’s share of attention in public, going out with my son teaches me a good lesson in humility. Nick stands out in a crowd. He’s just under 6 foot, 6 inches tall. Wears a size 15 foot. I’m 6 foot, 2 inches tall. I’ve always been used to being the big guy. Not around my son. But, being in KISS has its rewards. For one thing, when your son finds another band interesting, you can always say “..oh yeah. We took them out as our supporting act on their first tour in the early ’80s (Europe).” It’s great to hear him say, “…really? Wow,” Gene Simmons said on his website back in 2004.

As Gene told his son, Kiss really had Iron Maiden as their opening act during part of their European tour in 1980, when they were promoting their debut album. At the time, he told their manager Rod Smallwood that he really liked their mascot and said that they would be the next big thing in the United States. “Iron Maiden is going to take over from Kiss as the biggest merchandising band in America,” he told Rod Smallwood at the time.

He later said:

“Maiden immediately struck me as a band with huge potential. The band was both musical and powerful: a rare combination. And being the Capitalist Pig that I am, Eddie struck me as an iconic visual that would buy everyone in the band big houses,” Gene Simmons said in an interview with Classic Rock in 2022.

He has been a fan and an advocate for the band ever since and continues to be angry about their still not having been inducted into the RRHF. “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a sham not to include Maiden. Disgusting!” he tweeted in 2021. His bandmate Paul Stanley also likes Maiden and agreed, saying: “Regardless of whether it matters to them, Maiden not being in the (Hall) of Fame is INSANITY. Regardless of who is writing in or not, the Committee must induct them. They have helped spawn an entire genre of music. What else do you need to do?” he said.

Gene Simmons mentioned Iron Maiden as one of the greatest bands of the past decades

Gene Simmons has been saying for a couple of years that Rock and Roll music is dead, mainly because no truly great bands have emerged since the 1990s, groups that were as impactful as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. He mainly blames music piracy that began in the 2000s, which killed the old album sales model and gave rise to streaming platforms.”It’s the business and who the fans are. The people that buy rock are predominantly white. Although it’s still vibrant in stadiums across the world — Iron Maiden does very well live and Metallica and so on. But these are old, old bands.

“We took Iron Maiden on their first tour, we took Bon Jovi on their first tour, we took AC/DC on their first tour. You can’t find a new big rock band,” he states. “They don’t exist. Name one, if you can think. Foo Fighters it’s a big band, and that’s 30 years ago. And that has to do with the fans, who’s buying it. So once you could get that music for free, the business model stopped working,” he said in an interview with Tom Cridland in 2025.

Why Gene Simmons said he couldn’t have the same philosophy as Iron Maiden

Bands like Iron Maiden and AC/DC have been more loyal to their original style since the beginning, although the British band developed a stronger Progressive Rock approach in later decades. However, they never followed the fashions that the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s brought to music. Steve Harris, for example, never even cut his hair short, unlike members of other bands such as Metallica. That is why Gene Simmons said he could not share the same philosophy as them, as he is always interested in whatever brings him the most money.

“I could argue the AC/DC or Metallica idea, which is, you stay true to your DNA,” Simmons said. “Well, it’s an argument that works well for them. And Iron Maiden. We didn’t have a choice because we gave in. There were those first records that had, you know, sort of Chuck Berry crossed with this and that. A little Beatles, a little Motown, a little this, a little that. Whatever that thing was, the identity, the fingerprint, was diluted as members within the band started to veer from the band.”

“There are other bands that have stayed true to who they are and have survived and become bigger. By the way, I don’t do that. I go, ‘That’s their journey. This is ours.’ I prefer to make dollars. The only thing I care about is a brand new five year old who experiences Kiss or the imagery, even if it’s not the music, just somehow gets seduced and beguiled by that,” Gene Simmons said in an interview with Billy Corgan in 2025.

Paul and Gene refused to be interviewed by a man with Maiden shirt

Back in 2012, when Kiss was touring South America, a local journalist arrived to interview the band wearing an Iron Maiden shirt. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley quickly demanded that he change the shirt, even offering to give him a Kiss one.