# The guitarist Gene Simmons said “means the world” to him: “He’s got the goods”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-guitarist-gene-simmons-said-means-the-world-to-him-hes-got-the-goods/
- Published: 2026-11-09T21:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T21:22:08+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/guitarist-gene-simmons-means-the-world/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Simmons named Ritchie Blackmore a defining influence.
- He admired Blackmore’s commanding stage presence.
- Seeing Deep Purple as a teenager helped inspire his ambitions.

## Summary

Gene Simmons said Ritchie Blackmore “means the world” to him, crediting the Deep Purple guitarist with showing him what a compelling rock performer could be. Blackmore’s stage presence helped shape Simmons’s ambitions and offers a glimpse of an influence behind Kiss’s own theatrical style.

Simmons recalled that audiences take in a concert visually as well as through sound, and praised Blackmore’s appearance, stance and movements on stage. As a teenager, Simmons watched Deep Purple during the band’s late-1960s and early-1970s peak, seeing Blackmore as the “real deal” and a model for his own path into rock.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.