In a new chat with Derek Scancarelli of Forbes, Gene Simmons revealed that he likes Van Halen more with David Lee Roth.
“I love it,” the bassist said of Linkin Park’s decision to continue with a female singer. “It breaks the rules because when you think about the rules — AC/DC, we took them out on their first tour, [people said] they couldn’t survive without Bon [Scott]. That’s the voice! Well, actually they did survive and they got bigger.”
Simmons continued, “‘Well, once you get your new lead singer, you can’t get rid of him!’ No, actually, Axl [Rose] did a terrific job. If he was in AC/DC or Guns N’ Roses, they would both be great because it was convincing.”
“Van Halen — a band I supposedly discovered or found; they had signed to me and all that — and I personally preferred the [David Lee] Roth-era Van Halen,” the rocker noted. “It was great. There was nobody like him, it changed what lead singers were. Once Roth left, ‘Oh boy, that’s the end of it.’ No, actually they literally got bigger with Sammy Hagar.”
Gene added, “All these ‘rules.’ Genesis, they lose Peter Gabriel, ‘It’s over!’ Nope. Once Gabriel left, Genesis became a stadium band with a drummer who came up from the back. All those ‘rules’ — who made the rules anyway? In rock and roll, there are no rules.”
Simmons talked about the Roth era of Van Halen one more time earlier this month. “With Van Halen in the early days, David Lee Roth was God,” the musician told Classic Rock. “On stage, nobody could touch him. So you couldn’t imagine Van Halen without Roth.”
He then discussed, “But you know what? Life actually happens while you’re busy making plans. And AC/DC, without Bon Scott, became an even bigger band. So rules are pretty much made to be broken. Could AC/DC still be AC/DC with Axl Rose? Sure they could! Because it’s either convincing or it’s not.”
Simmons once said he discovered Van Halen and helped them record a demo in New York. But his KISS bandmates and manager didn’t care, so he gave back the demo, canceled their contract, and let them go. Van Halen was then signed by Warner Bros.