ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) 鈥� visited Detroit Rock City on Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of a restaurant co-founded by him and his Kiss bandmate, Paul Stanley.
鈥淓verybody talks about Detroit, we owe our stuff to Detroit 鈥� first city that appreciated the band that I鈥檓 in,鈥� Simmons said before cutting the ribbon at the new Rock & Brews in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Since opening their first location in Southern California in 2010, Simmons and Stanley have opened Rock & Brews in states from Washington to Florida.
鈥淥ur CEO is here, because he wants to go back in the kitchen and even bring it up a notch,鈥� Simmons said in an interview. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to keep the same old, same old. We got to kick it up, because people deserve the best. You wanted the best, you got the best 鈥� the hottest food in town.鈥�
Simmons, 76, is the longtime bassist for Kiss. The face-painting rockers were inducted in 2014 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were last year.
The New Yorkers long have had a soft spot for the Motor City. Not only is 鈥淒etroit Rock City鈥� one of their best-known tunes, Kiss recorded part of their seminal live album 鈥淎live!鈥� at Cobo Arena.
Simmons, singer Stanley, the and drummer Peter Criss put out a few studio albums in the early 1970s without a lot of success. It wasn鈥檛 until 1975鈥檚 鈥淎live!鈥� hit record stores that Kiss became, well, Kiss.
The band retired a few years ago from touring.
But Simmons was happy to be back on the road and in the Great Lakes State.
Indeed, Simmons said Thursday鈥檚 visit was a homecoming of sorts.
鈥淜iss really broke our rock-and-roll teeth in Detroit. Detroit accepted us way before New York and any other city,鈥� he said, before doing a little impromptu singing: 鈥淵ou gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City.鈥�
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