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Love & Passion Quote by Jason Newsted

"I ended up gettin' a little Gibson amp and a bass, because of Gene Simmons of Kiss. Myself and three other kids would pretend to be Kiss - I liked Gene the best"

About this Quote

Origin stories in rock are rarely dignified; theyre usually a kid, a cheap amp, and a larger-than-life villain to imitate. Jason Newsted frames his own beginning that way, and the details matter: not a conservatory epiphany, but a "little Gibson amp and a bass" bought because Gene Simmons made being the bassist feel like being the main character. Thats the real punchline of Kiss as a cultural machine - they sold identity first, musicianship second, and that order was the hook.

Newsted isnt just name-checking a hero. Hes admitting how aspiration works when youre young: you dont choose an instrument because it fits your soul; you choose it because it lets you inhabit a myth. Simmons, with the makeup, the demon persona, the theatrics, turned bass playing into something visual and legible. In a garage band ecosystem, guitar gets the spotlight by default. Kiss rewired that hierarchy. Pretending to be Kiss gave four kids pre-assigned roles, costumes you could wear in your head before you could afford any real gear.

The subtext is also about permission. Newsted, who would later step into Metallicas most thankless job - replacing a beloved bassist and being asked to disappear into the low end - started out drawn to the loudest personality in the band. The line "I liked Gene the best" reads like a childhood confession, but it foreshadows an adult career spent negotiating visibility: wanting the stage, then learning how often the bassists work is to anchor everyone else while the front line takes the credit.

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TopicMusic
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APA Style (7th ed.)
Newsted, Jason. (2026, January 16). I ended up gettin' a little Gibson amp and a bass, because of Gene Simmons of Kiss. Myself and three other kids would pretend to be Kiss - I liked Gene the best. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-ended-up-gettin-a-little-gibson-amp-and-a-bass-117661/

Chicago Style
Newsted, Jason. "I ended up gettin' a little Gibson amp and a bass, because of Gene Simmons of Kiss. Myself and three other kids would pretend to be Kiss - I liked Gene the best." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-ended-up-gettin-a-little-gibson-amp-and-a-bass-117661/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I ended up gettin' a little Gibson amp and a bass, because of Gene Simmons of Kiss. Myself and three other kids would pretend to be Kiss - I liked Gene the best." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-ended-up-gettin-a-little-gibson-amp-and-a-bass-117661/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Jason Newsted

Jason Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is a Musician from USA.

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