It's impossible to contextualize the novel coronavirus pandemic without also discussing the economic fallout from the crisis.
With widespread bans on social gatherings, no industries have been more severely impacted than ones build around live events. The music industry, for one, has lost an estimated $1 billion so far due to postponed and canceled tours.
Despite the dire times, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, who's made much of his own fortune in front of huge audiences, isn't complaining about the sudden postponement of the band's 'End of the Road' farewell tour.
"We're gonna go back once it's safe, once there's a cure," Simmons told Good Morning L.A. in a recent interview. "We would never put out fans in danger, or ourselves."
He says the financial losses from social distancing measures pale in comparison to the alternative: an even more tragic human death toll. Keeping our neighbors alive should be everyone's top priority.
"We can talk about the big numbers and that means billions of dollars that are lost," he continued. "The rich and famous and the good-looking folks who wear silly outfits like this [indicating himself] and have silly hair like this... billions of dollars just flushed down the drain. So what? You're talking about single mothers and families who live from check to check. The people who actually put on these concerts — the security people, the road crews, all that stuff — this is survival. The folks in and around the infrastructure are the people who are suffering the most."
Simmons added that since Kiss's 'End of the Road' farewell tour was put on ice due to the pandemic lockdowns, the band is doing its part to support the response and "writing checks" for "important stuff."
"I just sent a nice big check to the children's hospital here in L.A. because you not only have children suffering from this horrible thing, there are children who are also fighting cancer," he said.
He the added: "We have nothing to complain about. Stop complaining — I keep saying that all the time... There are some miserable things going on out there; people are losing their lives. ...We're in this together — the only way is the lonely way."
Simmons spoke out early in the COVID crisis, advising people to resist the temptation to go outside by assuming "everyone is a zombie."
Kiss frontman Paul Stanley has been entertaining fans often by live-streaming guitar lessons and short acoustic sets for his followers.
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