Rock Legend’s Wife, 69, Reveals Brutal Health Ordeal
“Anybody else love aging as much as I do?”
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Rock legend Gene Simmons’ wife is opening up about suffering a series of difficult health issues, all in just six months.
The 77-year-old KISS bassist is married to Shannon Tweed-Simmons, an erotic thriller star and the 1982 Playboy Playmate of the Year, whom he met through Hugh Hefner more than four decades ago.
On Sept. 11, Tweed-Simmons revealed on social media that she has been in and out of the hospital for half a year.
Bass player Gene Simmons performs with Kiss at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, in 1976.
Armando Gallo/Armando Gallo/Getty Images
“I look happy but listen to the last six months of my life,” Tweed-Simmons, 69, wrote in the caption of a smiling selfie on Instagram. She went on to give a lengthy list of health troubles.
Shannon Tweed-Simmons posted an upbeat selfie on Instagram along with her less-cheery health update.
Instagram/Shannon Tweed-Simmons
“I was feeling wobbly and I fell on a step, but I took a knee so I wouldn’t fall down the stairs. I had to get stitches in that leg. I drove myself to the clinic and got stitches,” she began.
“Then I realized I am falling and wobbling because the arthritis in my hips is getting to be unbearable, so I had a double hip replacement.”
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed-Simmons on February 22, 1987, at Chasen's Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. The couple started dating in 1983 after being introduced by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
The mother of two wrote that she had the “big surgery,” though she described it as not being “a large, large deal.” Once she was back on her feet, however, other unfortunate events followed.
“I was up and walking in no time until my right hip popped out. I can’t stop laughing right now, but I went in. They put me out and popped it back in. And then a week later it popped out again,” Tweed-Simmons wrote.
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She added, “Anyway I have a new kind on that side and it’s better now. I’m walking great no pain.”
Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed have been together since 1983. Pictured here in Los Angeles in 2001.
Rose Prouser/Reuters
But 2026 had more surprises in store for Tweed-Simmons, who starred in the Gene Simmons Family Jewels reality series with her husband and their two children, Nick Simmons, 37, and Sophie Simmons, 34, from 2006 until 2012.
She also suffered from a urinary tract infection (“that I didn’t know I had”), attributing it to a kidney stone “breaking up inside me and causing infection.”
This infection then led to sepsis, she said, adding, “Not good!”
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that can follow an infection, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons with their children, Nicholas and Sophie, in Hollywood, in May 2002.
Fred Prouser/Reuters
Tweed-Simmons then provided her latest health development.
“Today I went to my eye doctor and next week I will have cataract surgery,” she wrote. “Soon I will be 70! Ha.”
Still, she remained optimistic, writing that she will just “fix everything.”
“I wonder how long I’ll last at this rate?!!” she quipped at the end of her post. “Anybody else love aging as much as I do?”
Simmons co-founded the legendary rock band in 1973 with Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and the late Ace Frehley.
Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Gene Simmons pose for photographers backstage at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles in 1996.
Fred Prouser/Reuters
Simmons and Tweed-Simmons first met at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, where she briefly lived in the early 1980s. They were introduced by Hugh Hefner, whom Tweed-Simmons had dated.
Playmate of the Year 1982 Shannon Lee Tweed, holding a check and posing with Hugh Hefner at the Playmate of the Year party.
Bettmann Archive via Getty Images
The couple began dating in 1983 and were together for 28 years before he proposed. They married in October 2011, and KISS performed three songs at their wedding.
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