Radio Station Network Responds To Gene Simmons Comments: ‘We Won’t Play This D*** Head’s Music’

Executives at an Australian network of radio stations have decided to ban all songs by the band KISS after Gene Simmons’ comments about suicide and depression in the wake of the Robin Williams tragedy according to the Herald Sun.

Gene Simmons startled many when he made the comments that people with depression and addiction issues should kill themselves during a recent interview when he was asked about relations between himself and KISS band members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

Gene Simmons told Song Facts:

“I don’t get along with anybody who’s a drug addict and has a dark cloud over their head and see themselves as a victim. Drug addicts and alcoholics are always: ‘The world is a harsh place.'”

Simmons went on to use his mother as a reference point for his comments:

“My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. I don’t want to hear f***-all about ‘the world is a harsh place.’ She gets up every day, smells the roses and loves life. And for a putz, 20 year-old kid to say, ‘I’m depressed, I live in Seattle.’ F*** you. Then kill yourself.”

He didn’t stop there. Gene Simmons continued, saying, he always calls people on their bluff when they’re standing at the top of the building saying they’re going to jump.

Nikki Sixx — the bass player for legendary rock band, Motley Crue — railed against Gene Simmons’ comments on his weekly Sirius Satellite talk show, and now a radio station network in Australia has gone a step further.

Triple M have pulled all KISS tracks from rotation on all their networks nationwide following Gene Simmons’ comments. The radio network called the comments about suicide and depression “misguided and insensitive.”

Triple M Network Head Mike Fitzpatrick said:

“Depression or suicide are not topics he should be using to further his notoriety or sell records. His desperation to use mental health issues to find relevancy in a modern age is sickening. I can only put it down to a brain fade on his part.”

Fitzpatrick went on to explain the ban of KISS tracks from its radio stations.

“The Triple M Network can’t and won’t be playing or supporting this d***head’s music. I put the challenge out there to other stations across Australia and North America to also drop any of this nudnik’s songs until such time as he reconsiders his thoughtless and insensitive position.”

Gene Simmons, meanwhile, back pedaled on his Facebook page almost immediately when outrage over his comments made itself clear.

“Unkind statements about depression was certainly never my intention. And I do not intend to defend myself here and now by listing the myriad charities and self-help organizations I am involved with. My heart goes out to anyone suffering with depression.”

[Image via Bizpack Review]