Reznor And Simmons Catfight About Age

08/05/09 5:20pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Many musicians say they don't want to end up being aging rockers, still playing their old hits on stage when they're in their sixties.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor recently said something along those lines when he was asked why he'd announced his band's current tour would be their last.

Of course, when you say you don't want to be an aging rocker, you inevitably have to compare yourself to someone...

"I'd never want to be Gene Simmons, an old man who puts on makeup to entertain kids, like a clown going to work," Reznor told the Philippines' Daily Inquirer last month. "In my paranoia, I fear that if I don't stop this, it could become that."

Simmons fired back in the Letters From Fans section on KISS' website.

"Trent grew up on KISS and cut his teeth on our toons," he wrote. "When he was recording Downward Spiral, he had two action figures on his mix console — Jesus and Gene Simmons.

"Once you're a self confessed heroin addict, who used the stuff for years, you don't look at life the way the rest of us do... I'm told.

"We all wish him well."

Maybe Simmons figures there are already enough people pissing on him.

You can see KISS at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans' City Park on Halloween.

Nine Inch Nails will play these dates:

Aug. 5 Manila, Philippines @ Araneta Coliseum
Aug. 7 Tokyo, Japan @ Summer Sonic
Aug. 8 Osaka, Japan @ Summer Sonic
Aug. 10 Singapore, Singapore @ Fort Canning Park
Aug. 12 Taipei, Taiwan @ Nan-Kang 101
Aug. 15 Seoul, South Korea @ ETP Festival
Aug. 22 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/The Horrors
Aug. 23 New York, NY @ Webster Hall w/The Horrors
Aug. 25 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 w/The Horrors
Aug. 26 New York, NY @ Terminal 5 w/Mew
Aug. 28-29 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom w/Mew
Aug. 30 Oro-Medonte, ON @ Burl's Creek Park (Virgin Festival Ontario)
Sept. 2 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium w/Mew and Queen Kwong
Sept. 3 Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater w/Mew
Sept. 5 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre w/HEALTH and Io Echo
Sept. 6 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex w/HEALTH