Kiss co-founder and bassist Gene Simmons recently shared a story about what could have been a major change in the world of Rock & Roll, had things gone differently. As Simmons stated, according to MetalInjeciton, none other than Eddie Van Halen once considered joining Kiss during a difficult time in Van Halen’s history in 1982. Ultimately, however, Simmons urged Eddie Van Halen to remain for the sake of his band, and what could have been a historic shift for both bands – for better or worse – never came to be.

Simmons had been closely tied with Van Halen during it’s rise, discovering the group in 1976 during a live performance and later helping them to produce the Zero demo, which contained early versions of what would soon become many of the band’s classic songs. While Simmons eventually stepped away from managing and producing for Van Halen due to several external factors, the bands found themselves nearly intertwined once more in 1982 following the departure of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley. In an interview on December 29th, Simmons stated that Eddie Van Halen had spoken to him during the band’s Diver Down period in early 1982, speaking of growing tension between himself and lead singer David Lee Roth. “Eddie told me, ‘Roth is driving me nuts. I can’t take it. I gotta leave,'” Simmons said, quoting the late guitarist. “‘I know you’re looking for a lead guitar player. Do you want me in the band?'”

Simmons stated that after a lunch together, he showed Eddie new material from Kiss which he enjoyed. Despite the enthusiasm, Simmons ultimately urged Eddie to stay with Van Halen, citing his importance to the band. “With Van Halen, everything begins and ends with you — it’s all about the guitar,” Simmons said, likening Eddie to fellow guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplin’s Jimmy Page and saying there would be no room for him in Kiss; “he would have taken over.” While the tensions between Eddie and Roth would lead to the latter’s departure later down the line, Simmons believes he made the right call encouraging Eddie to stay, citing the success following Sammy Hagar’s tenure. “I love Roth—that’s still my favorite era of Van Halen,” he said. “But you can get another lead singer. When Hagar joined, they became a bigger band. So that rule — ‘You can’t lose the lead singer?’ Actually, you can.”