Gene Simmons seems less sympathetic over the death of Prince.

After the "Purple Rain" singer died on April 21, there have been rumors back and forth on what it was that killed him. At this point, it seems like prescription painkillers were part of the problem although the situation is still being investigated.

In a report from Newsweek on Tuesday, Simmons opened up on how he feels about Prince's passing.

"His drugs killed him," the KISS rocker said. "What do you think, he died from a cold?"

Simmons continued to be blunt.

"I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them," he said. "I thought he left [Michael] Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that. But how pathetic that he killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly. I'll grant you...but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death."

Simmons then revealed what it was like when he and his former girlfriend Diana Ross met Prince for the first time-- apparently, they had kind of an awkward greeting.

"He was playing at a club and we'd never seen anything like that," Simmons said. "Backstage when we came up to say 'you were great,' we were expecting this huge personality and he was a very small, slight human being. He might have been five-foot-four, very shy, with his eyes to the ground, very self-effacing. He just couldn't take a compliment: 'Thank you, thank you.' He spoke in a whisper."

The rocker then pointed out how some celebrities might turn to unhealthy substances once they live the life of stardom.

"When we all start out and we have these big dreams and you finally get your wish- you have more money than God and fame- what is that insane gene in us, well, a lot of us, that makes us want to succumb to the cliché of clichés: drugs and alcohol?"

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