..:::GUITAR HERO:::..

Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz [‏Hebrew: חיים ויץ‎, pronounced /ˈxɑːjɪm/] on August 25, 1949 is an Israeli-American rock bassist, vocalist, musician, actor, and businessman. He is well known as "The Demon", the bassist in the hard rock band Kiss, a group he co-founded in the early 1970s.

Early life and career
Simmons was born in Tirat Carmel, Haifa, Israel in 1949, and immigrated to Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City at the age of eight,[1] with his mother Flóra Klein — a Jewish Hungarian immigrant (who was born in Jánd, a village in Hungary[2]). Florence and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only two members of her family to survive the Holocaust. His Hungarian-born father, Feri Witz, did not accompany them to the U.S. After arriving in the U.S., young Chaim Witz took the name Eugene Klein (later Gene Klein), Klein being his mother's maiden name. In the late 1960s, he changed his name to Gene Simmons to honor legendary rockabilly performer Jumpin' Gene Simmons.[3]
Simmons became involved with his first band, Lynx, then renamed The Missing Links, when he was a teenager. Eventually, he disbanded The Missing Links to form The Long Island Sounds, the name being a play on words relating to the estuary separating Long Island from Westchester County, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. While he played in these bands, he kept up odd jobs on the side to make more money, including making fanzines and trading used comic books. Simmons attended Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York. He then joined a new band, Bullfrog Bheer, and the band recorded a demo, "Leeta"; this was later included on the Kiss box set.
Simmons formed the rock band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Stanley Harvey Eisen (now known as Paul Stanley) and recorded one album, which was never released. Dissatisfied with Wicked Lester's sound and look, Simmons and Stanley attempted to fire their band members; they were met with resistance, and they quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They decided to form the ultimate rock band, and started looking for a drummer. Simmons and Stanley found an ad placed by Peter Criscoula, known as Peter Criss, who was playing clubs in Brooklyn at the time; they joined and started out as a trio. Paul Frehley, better known as Ace Frehley, responded to an ad they put in The Village Voice for a lead guitar player, and soon joined them. Kiss released its self-titled debut album in February 1974. Stanley quickly took on the role of lead performer on stage, while Simmons became the driving force behind what became an extensive Kiss merchandising franchise.
In 1983, while Kiss's fame was waning, the members took off their trademark make-up and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that continued into the 1990s. The band hosted their own fan conventions throughout 1995, and fan feedback about the original Kiss members reunion influenced the highly successful 1996-1997 Alive Worldwide reunion tour. In 1998, the band released Psycho Circus, the first album in almost 20 years by the original line-up. Since then, the original line-up has once again dissolved, with Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley on lead guitar and Eric Singer (who performed with Kiss from 1992 up through 1996) replacing Peter Criss on drums.
Equipment
Gene Simmons has used various bass guitars during his career including:
Axe Bass (Kramer or other brands, like Jackson)
Punisher Bass (Made by a lot of brands, as seen, B.C Rich or Jackson)
Spector Gene Simmons Signature
Gibson Grabber (mainly in Kiss' early years)
Gibson Ripper ( mainly in Kiss' early years )
Cort Guitars Signature GS-1 Bass
He uses Ampeg SVT CL Series amps with 8x10 cabinets. In 2010 Gene collaborated with Cort Guitars to make a his own signature bass line called the GS-AXE-2.

Personal life
Simmons, who has never been married, currently lives in Beverly Hills, California with longtime partner and former Playboy Playmate and actress Shannon Tweed. They have two children: a son, Nick Simmons (born January 22, 1989), and a daughter, Sophie Simmons (born July 7, 1992). He formerly has had live-in relationships with Cher and Diana Ross.
[1] Simmons speaks four languages – English, Hungarian, Hebrew, and German – and is currently learning Japanese and Mandarin.