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Posted on 01/09/2026 1:05:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Gene Simmons recently attempted to dispel the "mythology" surrounding Kiss' biggest hit, "Beth," claiming drummer Peter Criss "had nothing to do with that song" despite singing it and receiving a writing credit on the track.
In a new interview with Professor of Rock, Simmons detailed the origins of "Beth," which appeared on the band's fourth album, Destroyer, and peaked at a career-high No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
How 'Beth' Started With a Clunkier Title
Simmons said that during a limousine ride through Michigan, Criss hummed him a primitive version of the song, which at the time had the working title "Beck." The melody piqued Simmons' interest, and the bandleader suggested Criss show the song to Kiss producer Bob Ezrin.
"But before then, I suggested in the car, 'Why don't you change it to "Beth"?'" Simmons said. "Because when you say 'Beck,' that hard syllable stops the melody. ... And 'Beth' is a much more romantic idea."
"Peter is always family," Simmons continued. "But it's time for the truth: Peter does not write songs. He doesn't play a musical instrument. Drums are not a musical instrument, by definition. They're called a percussive instrument. Really important, sometimes extremely important in a band. It was for us. But you cannot play a drum fill that could be [copyrighted]. But you can come up with a riff that you can own, and a melody and a lyric. Those can be [copyrighted]. But nothing you do on drums will prevent anybody else from directly copying whatever you did and applying it to another song.
"OK, that's number one," he continued. "Number two: As far as I know, Peter plays no other instruments that I've ever seen. Not keyboards, six-string instruments. Peter's got a great whiskey voice in the early days."
So ... Who Actually Wrote 'Beth'?
"The person who wrote 'Beth' and 'Baby Driver' and one or two more is a guy named Stan Penridge," Simmons explained. "Stan Penridge was with Peter in a group called Chelsea. They had a record out actually. I think it was on MCA. So Peter did not write 'Beth.' Peter did not write 'Baby Driver.' Stan Penridge wrote that.
"But through politics and hint, hint, nudge, nudge — and I wasn't there when the conversation went down — Stan Penridge apparently agreed that Peter's name would go in the songwriting credit. It appears first. Peter Criss, Bob Ezrin, Stan Penridge, or the other way around. But Peter's first. Peter had nothing to do with that song. He sang it."
How Another Legendary Boy Band Inspired 'Beth'
Simmons also explained how "Beth" received its iconic string arrangement. "To fix all the mythology and the gossip and the outright lies, it was Bob Ezrin who said, 'I want to do this like "Yesterday" [by the Beatles],'" he said. "More like a string quartet and piano, so more acoustically, because the melody of the song demanded it. And we'd never done that. We never thought we'd be doing a song like that, but we all went, 'Sure.'"
In conclusion, Simmons said, "The mythology of 'Beth' is exactly that: mythology. The real story is Peter was lucky enough to be in the same place at the same time as a guy who wrote a song called 'Beth.' And then Bob Ezrin, when he heard the song, went home before it was recorded, and then Bob added the middle section of the piano, which was taken legally because it's public domain. I believe it was a Mozart piano concerto. And that is the story behind 'Beth.'"
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And other than Gene who cares?
That song sucked.
It did indeed.
So whiny.
God of Thunder was much better.
😁
This guy is extremely full of himself. Drums are not a musical instrument, they are percussion???!!! Um, Geno, percussion instruments are musical instruments.
Kiss were much better marketers than they were musicians.
“Peter Criss “had nothing to do with that song” despite singing it”
That’s kinda like saying other than my wife having our baby, she really had nothing to do with it.
Sometimes I wonder about Simmons......you’d think at his advanced age he’d finally put that obnoxiously huge ego in his sock.
Until his very last breath, Gene Simmons will seethe that “Beth” was bigger than any of his songs, and that the drummer he looked down on was one of the writers.
One good line...’Cause me and the boys will be playing all night.
It sucked back in the 80s when they played it on the radio and MTV every 20 minutes.
Hearing it on Pandora occasionally now I don’t mind it near as much.
If he hummed the tune first, that is creating. He gets writing credit. And he gets writing royalties. That’s how it works.
Don’t these people have enough money to round off the edges of their pettiness?
Very true but there’s a handful of songs I actually do like.
Not enough to buy albums, mind you.
It's all he has at this point. Arguably all he ever had.
Man, that’s some sour grapes right there. The real reason he’s upset is because he didn’t get to write Kiss’s biggest single.
Thin Lizzy said it better.
😁
Says the bass player. There are plenty of rock and roll songs without a bass guitar but very, very few without a drum.
He had good kids.
I think Simmons is claiming he hummed because he played on it in the earlier band.
Thin Lizzy said it better.
Now that’s a great band!
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