Does Gene Simmons have a heart condition? Health struggles explored as KISS rocker faints while driving

KISS bassist and co-founder Gene Simmons, 76, hit the news this week after he fainted at the wheel and crashed his Lincoln Navigator into a parked truck on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.

The rock icon was hospitalized after the October 7 incident, leading many devotees to express concern about his health, and question whether an underlying heart condition might have contributed.

Heart-based problems have not been reported so far by medical personnel, and Simmons himself has never hinted that his passing out was related to heart issues. Rather, it is speculated to be dehydration, the side effects of medication and fatigue which seen to have been the main causes behind the recent health scare.

Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes. I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us were horrible drivers. And that’s me. All is well.

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) October 8, 2025

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said Simmons passed out behind the wheel of an SUV and drove into a parked car at around 1 p.m. Thankfully, no one else was hurt.

Witnesses promptly called the 911 line, emergency responders arrived on scene and took Simmons to a hospital for an evaluation. The musician later doused fans on social media, writing on X:

"Thanks, everybody, for the kind wishes. I’m completely fine. I had a slight fender bender. It happens. Especially to those of us were horrible drivers. And that’s me. All is well."

Gene Simmons' previous health concerns explored as his wife, actress Shannon Tweed opens up about the recent accident

Simmons' wife, actress Shannon Tweed, would later offer some insight on what probably happened by saying that he had been dehydrated and getting used to new meds.

Doctors had recently changed his prescriptions and recommended that he increase his water intake, she told NBC. “He just hates drinking water,” Tweed confessed, stating that dehydration was likely why he fainted behind the wheel.

The car allegedly swerved into other lanes of traffic before striking a parked truck, saving what could have ended in a much bigger disaster. 

That's a Big 'Bu 'Bu ... Truck Mangled in Car Crash Aftermath Footage

By TMZ Staff
Published October 16, 2025 1:00 AM PDT

Gene Simmons drove headfirst into a parked car in Malibu and it looks like it's lucky he didn't drive off a cliff and into the ocean ... according to video… pic.twitter.com/x5VxFsiN4M

— SubX.News® (@SubxNews) October 16, 2025

While Simmons hasn’t directly acknowledged suffering from any chronic heart condition, he’s undergone a handful of health scares in recent years. KISS was playing a gig in Brazil in Manaus, when their rocker began to feel weak and had to sit down on stage.

A concerned crowd watched as frontman Paul Stanley stopped the show to check on him. Simmons would later attribute the situation to extreme humidity and dehydration.

"Hey everybody, thanks for the good wishes. I’m fine. Yesterday at Manaus Stadium in Brazil, experienced weakness because of dehydration. We stopped for about five minutes, I drank some water, and then all was well. Nothing serious. Tomorrow, Bogota Stadium. See you there!" he wrote on X.

Simmons had kidney stone removal in 2022, Tweed said. He has been largely keeping up a rigorous touring schedule with KISS despite these mishaps, taking the band’s “End of the Road” farewell tour that started in 2019, and is to culminate with final shows at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Gene Simmons' misfortune is a well timed reminder of the need to stay hydrated and maintain careful taking of your medications, especially for elderly and under stress people.