Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz ?he???? ???, pron-en?x??j?m on August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American rock (rock music) bassist, vocalist (Singing), actor, and businessman. He is well known as "The Demon", the blood-spitting, fire-breathing, and tongue-wagging bassist and co-frontman and lead vocalist in the hard rock band Kiss (Kiss (band)), a group he co-founded in the early 1970s. Simmons was placed twenty-ninth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers.