KISS rock star Gene Simmons fainted while driving an SUV and crashed earlier this week, officials said.
Simmons, a co-founder and bassist for the legendary New York group, was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu around 1 p.m. Tuesday when he passed out, crossed several lanes of traffic and crashed his Lincoln Navigator into a parked car, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said.
He was evaluated at a hospital before being released.
Wife Shannon Tweed told NBC4 that Simmons recently changed medications for an undisclosed condition and he was dehydrated because he wasn’t drinking enough water leading to his blackout.
The 76-year-old thanked his fans in a social media post Wednesday.
“Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes,” he wrote. “I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us were horrible drivers. And that’s me. All is well.”
KISS retired from a half-century of touring in 2023, but Simmons and his bandmates plan to play a special “unmasked” fan event in Las Vegas next month to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. In August, President Donald Trump announced that KISS was one of this year’s Kennedy Center honorees.
With News Wire Services
