10 Fascinating Stories Behind Rock Music Star Stage Names

Those who aren't clued up on the history of Kiss (or Kisstory, if you will) might be surprised to learn that their bassist and singer's real name isn't Gene Simmons.

It's not immediately clear that this is a stage name, but it couldn't be further from the one of his birth certificate. Simmons' real name is Chaim Witz, born in Israel to a pair of Hungarian Jewish Immigrants.

Witz and his mother moved to the US when he was eight years old, where he would start going by the name Gene Klein. When he began to take an interest in music, he changed his name once again to honour the famous rockabilly singer "Jumpin" Gene Simmons.

And that's how he got to where he is today.

It took a while for Simmons to land on the name that he would become famous with, but the journey says a lot about the Demon. It implies that he wanted to hide his Jewishness, a common practice for immigrants in the 1950s, and it also shows that this glam metal icon can trace his roots back to the very early days of rock 'n' roll.