Gene Simmons 'thrilled' with 'Reagan' movie cover song, now on YouTube

Gene Simmons, in an exclusive interview, told Newsweek about his cover of the Ethel Waters song "Stormy Weather" for the Reagan movie and his high regard for the former president.

"It seemed to me during the scenes where Ronald Reagan was sitting with Jane Wyman at the club, there would probably be music playing in the background," Simmons said. "I was actually thrilled that the producers thought my version of the song would work in the scene."

He was full of praise Ronald Reagan, calling him a "great American" who will "certainly go down in future generations as one of America's great presidents."

"Interestingly, and I suspect the masses didn't know this about President Reagan, he started off as an actor, joined the Democratic Party, then became disillusioned with the Democratic party, and joined the Republican party," Simmons said.

Rawhide Pictures, the producer of Reagan, last week released a high-quality version of Bob Dylan's much-anticipated cover of Cole Porter's song "Don't Fence Me In," which played over the end title credits of the biopic.

The company also released "Stormy Weather" on YouTube, including a video of Simmons recording the song intercut with footage from the movie. With orchestral swells behind a simple piano accompaniment, Simmons performs one of his favorite songs.

Many big names have recorded "Stormy Weather," including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Ethel Waters' rendition was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Library of Congress.

Covering a song in a style that differed so much from the various sounds of his band KISS didn't seem much of a stretch for Simmons: The band had performed songs from a number of genres – hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, and the famous disco song, "I Was Made for Lovin' You."

Simmons explained how he had toyed with different covers and genres in his solo work, too, such as his cover of Disney's "When You Wish Upon a Star" for his 1978 eponymous album, and the original song "Waiting for the Morning Light," written with Bob Dylan for his second solo album.

Simmons has already considered recording more covers, and possibly following in the footsteps of Johnny Cash with the release of a cover song album, like the "American" album series.

"I sat down with producer Rick Rubin, who worked on those Johnny Cash albums, and we had a brief conversation about the very same subject," Simmons said, cryptically adding "we will see" if such a project might materialize.