KISS bassist Gene Simmons on Thursday downplayed an incident at the band’s concert in Manaus, Brazil on Wednesday night.
“Ok, kids. Not a big deal. Thanks for your kind wishes,” the 73-year-old tweeted. “Last night we played Amazon jungle Stadium/Brazil. Humidity and temperature were sky high. I was dehydrated and was forced to sit for a song. We got back on stage in 5 minutes & finished the show.”
Simmons was responding to reports that during “Say Yeah,” he felt unwell and had to sit in a chair to complete the song. Paul Stanley then paused the show. “We’re going to have to stop to take care of him,” he said, “because we love him, right?”
Simmons tweeted: “I’m fine … experienced weakness because of dehydration. We stopped for about five minutes, I drank some water, and then all was well. Nothing serious.”
Last year, Simmons boasted about his stage stamina.
“You got to understand we love [Mick] Jagger and Bruno Mars and Bono and anybody else, they're all great,” the rocker told Entertainment Tonight, “but if you put those guys – Beyoncé, put Beyoncé – in my outfit with seven- to eight-inch platform heels, dragon boots that each weigh as much as a bowling ball, the entire outfit, studs, leather and armour is about 40 pounds. The guitar and the studs is 12 pounds by itself. Then, you got to spit fire, fly through the air and do that for two hours. They would pass out within a half hour.”
He previously told the Toronto Sun: “The physicality of what we do … we are simply the hardest working band in show business — period.”
KISS is scheduled to wrap up The End of the Road Tour – which began in January 2019 in Vancouver – in New York City in December. The band’s final show on Canadian soil will be in Toronto on Nov. 22 after playing Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa.