Gene Simmons: I would trademark the air you breathe if I could

Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons (Image credit: Getty)

Gene Simmons has reiterated that he has no regrets over attempting to trademark the devil horns hand gesture used by rock and metal fans all over the world.

The Kiss bassist came under fire from music fans, artists and Ronnie James Dio’s widow Wendy for the move to resister it as a trademark – with the application withdrawn two weeks after it had been filed in June this year.

Simmons later said: “Anyone who thinks that’s silly: the silliest thing I’ve ever done is wear more makeup and higher heels than your mommy. People said, ‘You can’t do that.’ Actually, bitch, I can. I can do anything I want to do.”

And in a new interview with Canada’s Metro, Simmons has added to his previous comments.

He says: “You can’t please everybody. Not everybody likes Jesus, either. Instead of worrying what people think, I just go my merry way and do whatever I want to do.

“If I could, I would trademark the air you breathe. Every breath. Yes, I would.”

Last week, Simmons announced details of his solo box set titled The Vault, which contains 150 tracks, including never-before-released songs, photos, stories and collectible items.

Simmons will hand deliver each package to customers at a designated location during his Vault World Tour which will take place between January and December 2018.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.