“Doors are immediately opened for us, but once you’re in the room they don’t necessarily give you the benefit of the doubt”: Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons on the realities of making it in the music industry as the sons of two Kiss legends

Left–Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley perform during the final show of KISS: End of the Road World Tour at Madison Square Garden on December 02, 2023 in New York City; Right – Nick Simmons and Evan Stanley photoshoot for their duo Stanley Simmons.

Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons are part of a newer crop of musicians continuing their parents’ legacy through their own music. And if their surnames sound eerily familiar to those of legendary guitar and bass slingers Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, it’s because, well, they’re their sons.

The two youngins have known each other all their lives, but making music together didn't happen until a chance hangout in December 2024, followed by an Instagram cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence.