Talking with rocker Gene Simmons on the memories of his mother

LOS ANGELES - Mother's Day! If you're like me, it's a time of memories. I lost my mother in 2018. So did rocker Gene Simmons. As KISS was on the tail-end of their final tour last year, I talked with Simmons and was moved by his memories of his mother.

With Mother's Day being just around the corner, I revisited that interview as the humanity of it all always stuck with me.

Simmons talked of being born in Israel and his mother being a Holocaust and concentration camp survivor. He talked of the father who abandoned the two. He talked of memories of having so little and coming to America at the age of eight.

Simmons, the son of Flora Klein, became one of the biggest rock stars in the world. Our interview was at the famed Whisky a Go-Go.

I asked, "Does it take you back to your early days of rock n roll?" "It certainly does. Everybody's played here!" he said

Fans turned out in KISS fashion for November's LA stop on the band's final tour.

Simmons told me "We'd been doing it for half a century. That's enough." 

Watching KISS in concert is awe-inspiring. Fan of the band or not, you can't help but respect the work, the success story, and the longevity. Join the KISS Army fan base you too will be singing along to lyrics like "shout it, shout it, shout it loud. You got to have a party."

His mother got to see his whole career play out. When she quietly passed away in 2018 at the age of 93 on Instagram he'd written "I lost my mother. My mentor. My moral compass. I am heartbroken."

He added "I would urge all of you to put your arms around your mother, kiss her and tell her how much you love her."

Simmons has been out on tour with his band. He is a married father of two. Happy Mother's Day to wife Shannon Tweed.