Watch: GENE SIMMONS takes over White House Briefing Room to discuss American Music Fairness Act
08-12-2025
On Friday, December 5, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was spotted in the White House briefing room, where he took over the podium and answered reporters’ questions about a variety of topics, including KISS receiving a Kennedy Center Honors Award on Sunday (December 7), and Simmons‘s appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (December 9) about the American Music Fairness Act, which aims to ensure singers are paid by radio stations when their music is played.
Speaking about his support of the American Music Fairness Act, which will require radio corporations to pay recording artists for their music, Gene said: “On Tuesday I’ll be pointing my finger at both Republicans and Democrats or senators who are joining to hear me talk about the American Music Fairness Act that needs to be passed because your favorite artists — Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and quite a few others — were never paid a single cent when you heard their voices on the radio. Nothing. They were never paid for their performance on the radio, even though radio yearly was making almost 14 billion dollars.
“In America, if you work hard, you should get paid,” he continued. “But that is a fact that’s been around for forever, and sadly this injustice has been ongoing without anybody paying attention to it. It doesn’t affect us as much ’cause we make a living. But our kids, my son Nick and my daughter Sophie, are both successful artists, and we, as guardians of their future, are not going to allow this injustice to continue.
“If there’s an artist who’s heard on radio, they should get paid, because the radio stations use our name, our likeness to promote their radio stations on billboards, everywhere else, and they charge advertisers money and they’re making 14 billion — that’s with a ‘B’ — dollars annually, multiplied by, if you have a 50-year career, that’s a lot of money. Can the artists that we all admire — from Sinatra to Elvis — have a little bit of that? Would that be okay?
“So this is a bipartisan bill that will get passed because the president is very pro artists.
“America invented the music of the world in the first place,” Simmons added. “Rock and roll, blues, jazz, most of it from black music, of course, and country and western, hip-hop was invented right here, and we’re letting our artists, the voices of America, American culture, get by working hard on their craft and not getting paid.”
Simmons will testify next Tuesday alongside Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange, the non-profit designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital streaming royalties to artists. Huppe has helped lead the fight in recent years to build support for the American Music Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures radio corporations play by the same rules as every other music delivery platform that pays performers royalties.
AM/FM radio remains the only major music delivery platform in the United States that still refuses to pay performers for their work. Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, YouTube and TikTok all pay performers, while the corporate radio industry earns billions of dollars each year without paying artists fairly. The United States stands as the world’s only democracy that still refuses to pay artists, putting it in the same league as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Even Russia and China pay performers royalties.
Simmons, who started his career as a small-venue musician and will be honored at the Kennedy Center on December 7, was one of more than 300 major artists who sent a letter to Congressional leaders earlier this year urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act. His support has helped breathe new life into this effort — next Tuesday’s hearing will mark the first time in more than a decade that the Senate has held a hearing on the American Music Fairness Act.
The American Music Fairness Act is sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA). The bill takes a balanced approach to ensure artists are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, require big radio corporations to finally pay their fair share, and help small independent broadcasters thrive. The legislation is supported by a diverse coalition of artists, broadcasters, labels, and music lovers:
Broadcasters, such as the Alliance for Community Media, Common Frequency, Media Alliance, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB),Prometheus Radio Project and REC Networks — which represent a broad coalition of community broadcasters — also support AMFA.
Last month, more than a dozen major artists asked Congress not to pass legislation requiring AM radio in new vehicles without also closing the radio loophole for artists.
More than 300 artists sent a letter to Congressional leaders in February urging them to pass the American Music Fairness Act.
Country music icon Randy Travis memorably testified before the House last year urging adoption of the legislation.
In a six-minute video, KISS‘s Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons unbox the “Alive!” 50th-anniversary super deluxe box set, taking fans on a walk down memory lane on the making of the record that catapulted the band into worldwide success.
KISS‘s “Alive!” turns 50 in 2025 — a golden jubilee for the iconic live album that catapulted the band and revolutionized live albums for the music industry from end-of-career obscurity into career-defining mainstream success. Often revered as one of the greatest live albums ever by countless music journalists, “Alive!” is celebrated with a Super Deluxe 180-gram 8-LP + Blu-ray Audio boxset showcasing 120 total tracks amplified with 88 unreleased tracks. LPs 1 and 2 feature the original album newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original 1975 stereo analog master tapes. LPs 3 through 6 showcase two full-length concerts from the 1975 “Dressed To Kill” tour — RKO Orpheum Theatre in Davenport, Iowa on July 20, Second Show and Wildwood Convention Hall in Wildwood, New Jersey on July 23 — newly mixed by legendary producer and engineer Eddie Kramer from the original multi-track analog tapes as KISS performed in 1975, with no overdubs. Bonus tracks on LP 7 and 8 include five rehearsal tracks at the Davenport gig including an impromptu jam and an additional six songs from Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio on June 21, 1975, all newly mixed by Eddie Kramer from the original multi-tracks. The Blu-ray Audio disc features “Alive!” newly mixed by Eddie Kramer from the original album multi-track analog tapes in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround along with the newly remastered stereo in 192kHz 24-bit and 96kHz 24-bit PCM stereo set to a brand-new visualizer featuring a treasure trove of unreleased live photos.
The Super Deluxe explodes further with an extensive array of bonus kollectibles including:
* 100-page hardcover book with extensive liner notes by Ken Sharp featuring new interviews from Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and many notable “Alive!”-era KISS team members plus tons of unreleased photos and rare imagery.
* “Alive!” 1975 press kit featuring
– Press Release
– Four Black & White Glossy Photos 7.5″x10″
– Marketing Slick Sheet
– “Alive!” Tour Program
– “Alive!” Back Cover Fan Banner Poster
– Album Cover Lenticular
– T-shirt Iron-on
– Four Live Color Glossy Photos
– Peter Criss Drum Head Litho
– Wildwood Concert Poster 20″x28″
– Cleveland Concert Mini-Poster 10″x17″
– Cobo Arena Concert Main Floor Ticket Stub
– Wildwood Concert Ticket Stub
– Cleveland Concert Ticket Stub
– Cobo Arena Concert Backstage Pass
– New Year’s Eve – Nassau Backstage Pass
– Four Double-Sided Coasters
– Four Guitar Picks
– Bumper Sticker 8″x2.5″
– “Alive!” Die-Cut Double-Sided Mobile
– Gotham Rock City News Volume 4 Newspaper – Track-by-Track interview with Eddie Kramer of nearly all tracks appearing on the collection
“Alive!” (Remastered)
LP One – Side A:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
LP One – Side B:
01. Nothin’ To Lose
02. C’mon And Love Me
03. Parasite
04. She
LP Two – Side C:
01. Watchin’ You
02. 100,000 Years
03. Black Diamond
LP Two – Side D:
01. Rock Bottom
02. Cold Gin
03. Rock And Roll All Nite
04. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll
Live In Davenport, Iowa – RKO Orpheum Theatre – July 20, 1975 – Second Show*
LP Three – Side E:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
LP Three – Side F:
01. Firehouse
02. She
03. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
04. Nothin’ To Lose
LP Four – Side G:
01. C’mon And Love Me
02. 100,000 Years
03. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
LP Four – Side H:
01. Black Diamond
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll
Live In Wildwood, New Jersey – Wildwood Convention Hall – July 23, 1975*
LP Five – Side I:
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
LP Five – Side J:
01. She
02. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
03. Nothin’ To Lose
04. C’mon And Love Me
LP Six – Side K:
01. 100,000 Years
02. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
03. Parasite
LP Six – Side L:
01. Black Diamond
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll
Bonus Live
Rehearsals – Live In Davenport, Iowa – RKO Orpheum Theatre – July 20, 1975*
LP Seven – Side M:
01. KISS Jam
02. Room Service
03. Strange Ways
04. Rock Bottom
05. Watchin’ You
Live In Cleveland, Ohio – Cleveland Music Hall – June 21, 1975*
LP Seven – Side N:
01. She
02. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
03. Nothin’ To Lose
LP Eight – Side O:
01. C’mon And Love Me
02. 100,000 Years
03. Peter Criss Drum Solo / 100,000 Years
Blu-ray Audio – Alive!
Disc Five:
[Dolby Atmos* / Dolby True HD 5.1* / 192kHz 24-bit & 96kHz 24-bit PCM Stereo]
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Firehouse
06. Nothin’ To Lose
07. C’mon And Love Me
08. Parasite
09. She
10. Watchin’ You
11. 100,000 Years
12. Black Diamond
13. Rock Bottom
14. Cold Gin
15. Rock And Roll All Nite
16. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll
* Previously unreleased
