Kiss down on drugs

Jan 8, 2010, 11:03 GMT

Kiss say sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are for "losers".

The legendary US rock band don't adhere to the commonly used phrase because it glorifies drug use - one of the problems which tore their original line-up apart in 2000.

Bass player Gene Simmons said: "Even the phrase 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' what a losers phrase that is! Why isn't it just sex and rock 'n' roll? How did drugs become cool?

"You can't win a marathon high, you just can't. Don't get me started."

Gene - who claims to have slept with nearly 5,000 women - and singer/guitarist Paul Stanley are the only original members left in the band, who had their heyday in the 70s.

Drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley joined the group for a 1996 reunion but Gene and Paul realised they had still had the problems which originally caused the breakdown of Kiss in the 80s.

Paul said: "There's magic in people seeing the original line-up, but from there it was really downhill."

Gene, 60, added to The Sun newspaper: "If you listened to it objectively, it grew old pretty quickly. All of the bull-s**t we had to go through with the drugs and booze and lack of self esteem that Ace and Peter had just sucked the life out of us. It's been a thorn in my side for a long time."