Gene Simmons Calls Prince’s Death ‘Pathetic’

All us 'Minnesotans' call Prince's death a tragedy in so many ways. Gene Simmons considers it 'pathetic' in his own words. Not cool dude, not cool.

The Kiss singer, Gene Simmons, is known for opening more than his big tongue, his mouth, when it comes to his opinion. This time it's a little personal to us from Minnesota.

In a recent interview, Gene Simmons tells the press that "Prince's death is pathetic". In a recent interview, published by Consequence of Sound, Simmons says the following:

“Bowie was the most tragic of all because it was real sickness. All the other ones were a choice,” Simmons said. “Drugs killed [Prince]. What do you think, he died from a cold?”

“I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them. I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don’t kid yourself, that’s what he did. Slowly, I’ll grant you … but that’s what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death.”

Then, days later, he apologizes for his remarks on Prince's death to Rolling Stone Magazine, sort of:

"I didn't express myself properly here — I don't shy away from controversy, and angry critics really don't bother me at all. If I think I'm right, I'll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time, I was not. So, my apologies."

The toxicology reports from Prince's death have not come back or been released.  Anybody with a chronic pain that required medications knows that sometimes what you are prescribed isn't close to enough to relieve the pain to feel any amount of comfort. In this case with Prince, it's possible he may have taken more than prescribed, but it's not up to anybody to speculate the source of his death, and especially calling it 'pathetic'.

Do you feel Gene Simmons was out of line to make a statement of opinion on Prince's death like this?