{"id":745997,"date":"2026-07-06T06:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/745997\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T06:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:56:09","slug":"gene-simmons-sparks-debate-with-patriotic-summerfest-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/745997\/","title":{"rendered":"Gene Simmons Sparks Debate With Patriotic Summerfest Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gene Simmons has once again found himself at the centre of controversy after delivering a strongly worded patriotic speech during a performance at Milwaukee\u2019s Summerfest ahead of America\u2019s 250th Independence Day celebrations.<\/p>\n

Before launching into the classic Let Me Go, Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll, Kiss<\/a> bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons<\/a> spoke to the crowd about his appreciation for the United States, drawing on his own experience as a legal immigrant.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aIn case you don\u2019t know it, you are blessed. You are living in the greatest fking country on the planet. And that\u2019s called USA,\u201d** Simmons told the audience.<\/p>\n

Marking the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, Simmons reflected on why he believes so many people seek to live in the United States (per Metal Addicts<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the greatest country,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019ve had anywhere from 20 million to 30 million illegal immigrants. Why? \u2018Cause they are willing to break the law and come into the greatest country on the face of the planet, right here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Migrating to the USA<\/p>\n

Simmons, who was born in Israel before immigrating to the United States as a child, also spoke about becoming an American citizen through legal channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI myself am an immigrant, but a legal one. I came through the lawful way. You wait in line, you respect the country, you respect its laws, and then you become a citizen of the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran rocker also revealed he had been invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in events commemorating America\u2019s 250th birthday, saying he would narrate a tribute honouring World War II veterans.<\/p>\n

During the speech, Simmons encouraged fans to recognise the sacrifices made by military veterans and first responders, describing them as the people who help protect the country\u2019s freedoms.<\/p>\n

He closed his remarks with a statement that quickly attracted attention online.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you don\u2019t like America, please go back to where you fking came from.\u201d**<\/p>\n

The comments are the latest example of Simmons sharing his outspoken views from the stage, throughout his career, the Kiss co-founder has rarely shied away from discussing politics, patriotism and current events, often generating passionate reactions from both supporters and critics.<\/p>\n

As expected, clips of the speech quickly spread across social media, with fans debating Simmons\u2019 remarks in the lead up to the United States\u2019 milestone anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gene Simmons has once again found himself at the centre of controversy after delivering a strongly worded patriotic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88],"class_list":["post-745997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}