Gene Simmons - Gene Simmons Breaks Down Talking About Poor Childhood In Israel

The Kiss rocker lived in the country until the age of eight, when he emigrated to the U.S. with his mother, a Holocaust survivor.

Simmons revealed the family was plunged into poverty after his father left, and he recalled the moment they received a care package containing tinned food.

The musician tells U.S. news network CNN, "My father left us when I was about six or seven and one day a box came in. A cardboard box. Later on I figured out it was a care package. I picked up my first can of food - it was a can of peaches. I had never seen canned food before, we didn't even have a toilet when I was growing up.

"She (my mother) opened it up with a knife and I remember tasting... this gets a little emotional for me... So I remember tasting those canned peaches, sweetest thing I ever had, and all of a sudden I had the idea that somebody cared and once I grew up I promised myself that I would make a difference."

Simmons admits his background was instrumental in pushing him towards charity work and he has subsequently volunteered to help children in Africa.