I was in my 20s when Kiss first arrived on the scene so I was a little too old for their theatrical music, being an Elvis, Beatles, Stones, Kinks fan, but I knew a younger guy who idolized them and will be devastated to hear this news.
I was 8 when I first got exposed to KISS through my older brothers and their friends. I was memorized at the time and knew all the songs. Gene turned out to be such a pussy/ fuddy duddy during the Covid thing.