“I glared at him and stuck out my tongue, lowered my head so we were face-to-face with each other and said, ‘Aaahhhh!’”: Gene Simmons recalls the rivalry between Kiss and Black Sabbath in the ’70s

Kiss star Gene Simmons says it very simply: “I've always loved and admired Black Sabbath. And can proudly say the early days of touring together will be a lifelong memory.”

But as he admits, there was a fierce rivalry between Sabbath and Kiss during their brief time together on a US tour in 1974.

Gene recalls: “The Sabbath of 1974 had all the adrenaline of a new band in a strange land doing what they believe in. There was no question Sabbath was going to do things their own way. Love them or hate them, this would be a band that would mark its own territory like an animal.

“Kiss was touring on its first album. We got an opening slot, thankfully, on the Sabbath tour… but only for three or four shows.

“It was at the Boston Theater in 1974, if memory serves me correctly…

“I was backstage fully made-up and ready to go out on stage with the band. Standing next to me was the great Geezer Butler. All five feet six inches of him! In my platform heels, I stood at about six feet nine inches tall.

“It's in my DNA – once the war paint was on, I became The Demon. And Geezer didn't quite know what to make of me.

“As he stood next to me, he looked me up and down. I looked down at him. I glared at him and stuck out my tongue, lowered my head so we were face-to-face with each other and said, ‘Aaahhhh!’

“Many years later, Ozzy either told me or I read it someplace – Geezer had come back and told him he felt threatened by the bass player in the opening act. He didn't think that was a good sign. And he was right!

“Our intention was to go out on stage and destroy all living things. We did.

“At the next show in Rochester, New York, our road manager was told that we would have to go on [stage] immediately. The problem was that the Sabbath amplifier line was too close to the edge of the stage, so we did not even have enough room to go by each other to get to the other side.

“What followed was a staring contest. We would not go on until the Sabbath amplifier line was pulled back. It was pulled back.

“On another occasion - perhaps it was in Albany, New York – Sabbath was nowhere to be found. We later learned they had checked into a hotel and when it was time to go to the concert hall, they could not find Ozzy. What had happened was he walked into an open hotel room, shut the door and went to sleep. The problem was he didn't go into his room!

“Needless to say, when Sabbath’s road manager went looking for Ozzy he was nowhere to be found. He was fast asleep in the stranger’s room.

“All of the above comes with a great deal of admiration, respect and love for one of the few bands who forged the way for countless others to follow.

“I will never forget the first time I ever heard the name Black Sabbath. It was an advertisement for their first album. It appeared in Rolling Stone. It said: Black Sabbath – louder than Led Zeppelin!!!’

"Louder and prouder, indeed.”