Gene Simmons was involved in a car crash on Tuesday (Picture: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
Gene Simmons is recovering in hospital after a car crash in Malibu saw his Lincoln Navigator career across several lanes on the Pacific Coast Highway.
The crash was reported just before 1pm in the 25000 block of Pacific Coast Highway on Tuesday afternoon, NBC Los Angeles reports.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department told NBC4 Investigates that the 76-year-old KISS bassist’s car crashed into a parked vehicle, before a witness called 911.
Simmons told deputies and first responders he passed out or fainted at the wheel of his SUV and hit the car, the sheriff’s department told the outlet, and he was hospitalised for checks.
Simmons’ Canadian actress wife Shannon Tweed told the outlet the rockstar is now recovering at home.
She explained that doctors recently changed his medication and told him to drink more water, something which Simmons apparently isn’t a fan of.
Simmons is recovering at home, according to his wife (Picture: Adrian Monroy/Medios y Media/Getty Images)
Simmons has recently changed medication, according to his wife (Picture: Elsie Roymans/Getty Images)
The musician co-founded Kiss with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in 1973, and the band – known for their dramatic face paint – went on to sell some 100 million records over the past 50 years.
The rockers – known for hits including Rock and Roll All Nite, Detroit Rock City and Beth – were in the news recently for sharing their excitement by being summoned by Donald Trump to the Kennedy Center Honours.
This is the first Kennedy Center Honours since President Trump took over as chairman of the arts and culture center in Washington DC earlier this year, a move which was criticised as a sign of encroaching authoritarianism in the US.
Named alongside soul singer Gloria Gaynor, country star George Strait, and actors Sylvester Stallone and Michael Crawford, KISS’s Simmons told TMZ in response to the announcement: ‘Kiss is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honoured to receive the Kennedy Center Honour.’
He is apparently not one to drink his daily water intake (Picture: Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty Images)
‘From our earliest days, Kiss has embodied the American ideal that all things are possible and that hard work pays off,’ adds Paul Stanley.
‘The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honours cannot be overstated, and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of Kiss and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band.’
Simmons also recently caused backlash after charging fans $12,000 to be his personal assistant.
As part of his US solo tour, the I Was Made For Lovin’ You hitmaker gave one fan per show extensive behind-the-scenes access.
That solo tour then axed 17 of the 26 dates with little explanation offered except for reassurances that it’s not connected to his health.
It seems it had nothing to do with the roadie VIP backlash as Gene later explained it’s ‘better to be rich than poor’.
‘I developed a harder skin and for myself, realised that everything was about the search for power and money, which is not a very romantic notion,’ he told Ultimate Classic Rock in an upcoming podcast.
Gene continued: ‘But I didn’t want to be poor, because I know what that felt like. All I ever did was try to figure out how to become powerful and make lots of money, for survival.’
After surviving Nazi concentration camps, the rocker’s mother worked six days a week in a ‘sweat factory’ to make ends meet.
‘The only thing money ever does, really, is give you the freedom to do stuff you actually like doing,’ he added.
Metro has contacted representatives for Gene Simmons for comment.
