Gene Simmons has apologized to David Lee Roth for comments he made in one recent interview in which he suggested that the Van Halen co-founder was washed up.
Asked by Rolling Stone whether Roth would continue as a support act on KISS's 'End of the Road' farewell tour, Simmons confirmed that Roth had indeed withdrawn. After first praising Roth for his impact on rock and roll, Simmons implied that the singer's abilities have diminished to the point of being unrecognizable.
"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," Simmons said. "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, you know, doing all that. I don't want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor."
Roth has yet to address his withdrawal from the Kiss tour, but he responded to Simmons' comment by posting 18 identical photos of a child giving the middle finger. He captioned each one, "Roth to Simmons."
So in a new interview with Us Weekly, Simmons apologized, saying the comment about "bloated" Elvis was not meant as a comparison to Roth. He says his stream of consciousness style in interviews sometimes leads to "diarrhea of the mouth."
"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," Simmons said. "So I sincerely apologize for that. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. It reminds me of the guy that gets out of a truck and says, 'Hey, I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to run you over.' Well, what the f---'s the difference? You've been run over."