Gene Simmons is done with the Golden State. The Kiss rocker has announced his departure from California after more than 35 years.
“We are moving out of L.A. for a number of reasons: one of which are the tour buses,” Simmons explained to the New York Post. “After a certain point, we have had enough of that, even though we appreciate the attention.”
It’s not just the tourists that have gotten to Simmons. The rocker listed “earthquakes, fires and pandemics every year” among his further reasons for moving.
Instead, the Kiss bassist will now reside in a 12,000-square-foot mansion in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
“The quality of life is better there, so we can go hiking without bumping into people,” Simmons declared, adding that the concept of a “quieter life” attracted him to the locale. Another reason for Nevada’s draw? The fact that it has no state income tax. “Taxes there are also much more appealing,” Simmons admitted, adding that California’s taxes had made the state “inhabitable.”
This isn’t the first time that Simmons has announced his displeasure with California. In October 2020, the rocker proclaimed he was leaving his affluent Beverly Hills suburb because tax rates had become “unacceptable.” “I work hard and pay my taxes and I don’t want to cry the Beverly Hills blues but enough is enough,” the Kiss icon declared at the time.
Simmons put his Beverly Hills mansion up for sale last year at an asking price of $22 million. Since then, he pulled it off the market, performed a series of renovations, and relisted the property at $25 million.