Kiss star Gene Simmons sorry for saying death of Prince ‘pathetic’

Gene Simmons has apologised after he spoke out against Prince, dubbing his death as “pathetic”.

Thu, 12 May, 2016 - 01:00

The Kiss frontman compared the music legend’s death to David Bowie’s in January, revealing that learning of the 69-year-old’s passing was worse because he was taken by cancer — not by drugs and alcohol.

Asked if he thought Prince’s death was tragic, he told Newsweek Europe: “His drugs killed him.

What do you think, he died from a cold? I think Prince was heads, hands, and feet above all the rest of them. I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that.

“But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don’t kid yourself, that’s what he did. Slowly, I’ll grant you… but that’s what drugs and alcohol is: A slow death.”

Simmons took to Twitter to apologise: “I just got such shit from my family for my big mouth again.

“I apologise — I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts. I get angry at drug users because of my experience being around them coming up in the rock scene.”

Simmons added, “Needless to say, I didn’t express myself properly here — I don’t shy away from controversy, and angry critics really don’t bother me at all. If I think I’m right, I’ll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time, I was not. So, my apologies.”