Gene Simmons To David Lee Roth: ‘I’m Sorry’
KISS founder Gene Simmons– who ignited an old fashioned rock and roll feud with former Van Halen Singer David Lee Roth when he compared him to ‘bloated’ Elvis Presley–is now apologizing for the insult.
In a new interview with US Weekly, Simmons clarified his statement, saying: “In the course of an interview — you hear me talking — I just, sort of stream-of-consciousness, I don’t mean to hurt people’s feelings. I read that quote, and somehow the way they put it together. . . I think I said something like, ‘Nobody touched David in his prime, not Robert Plant, not (Mick) Jagger, anybody. . . ‘ He was the king. And then there’s was a segue to Elvis bloated on the ground and, y’know, ‘fat and naked and I don’t wanna see that.’ I wasn’t talking about David — but that doesn’t matter. What matters is I hurt David’s feelings, and that’s more important than the intent. So I sincerely apologize for that. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings.”
To recap, Simmons was asked in Rolling Stone if Roth would be returning for opening dates on the current leg of the KISS tour, when he responded: “ot. But it bears noting that during Dave’s heyday, nobody did what he did. He was the ultimate frontman. Not (Robert) Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything. And then, I don’t know what happened to him. . . something. And you get modern-day Dave. I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, y’know, doing all that. I don’t want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.”
Roth responded with a post on social media posting 18 photos to Simmons of a child flipping the bird simply captioned: “Roth to Simmons.”
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