Cher in October 2024; Gene Simmons in January 2023.Photo:Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; GC Images
Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; GC Images
Gene Simmonswas a master of disguise when he datedCher.
InCher: The Memoir, Part One, theMoonstruckactress, 78, writes about her relationship with theKISSrocker, 75, whom shedated from 1977 to 1979.
When they went out in Los Angeles, Cher noted the lack of makeup Simmons wore when offstage. Since KISS is known for its dramatic black-and-white makeup, he was able to blend in.
Gene Simmons and Cher.WireImage
WireImage
“The makeup and clothes that make KISS so recognizable also allowed them to have separation between when they were ‘on’ as celebrities and when they were leading private lives,” she writes. However, going out with the very famous Cher didn’t help.
“He’d want to go out with me as regular Gene,” she notes. “He didn’t want to put on his persona when we went on dates, but he didn’t want to appear to the public as his private self.”
Cher said that the band would wear bandanas over their faces “like cowboys” when they weren’t in public as KISS.
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The “Believe” singer also mentions how “interesting” to watch Simmons transform into his KISS persona when he wore the demonic makeup. “When I’m in my costume I might get crazy and not treat you the same,” Cher recalls him saying, referring to himself as “the Demon.”
After he loomed over her and growled at her in full makeup, Cher told him to stop because she wouldn’t “put up with it.”
The former couple spoke to PEOPLEabout their relationship in 1979. “I’m crazy about Cher, nuts about her. She’s my first love,” Simmons gushed at the time. “Cher’s an untainted soul who has never done anything bad to anybody.”
Cher and Gene Simmons in December 1979.Frank Edwards/Archive Photos/Getty
Frank Edwards/Archive Photos/Getty
Cher: The Memoir, Part Oneis available for purchase wherever books are sold. The second part of her memoir is expected to hit bookshelves in 2025.
source: people.com
