Overview
- Criss told Billboard that Simmons’s claim he had “nothing to do” with writing “Beth” is not correct, calling the remarks ridiculous and uncalled for.
- Producer Bob Ezrin said Simmons’s version is not how he remembers it, recalling an original Criss–Stan Penridge song called “Beck” that he slowed down and reworked with a new piano part.
- Criss described contributing the melody and phrasing from the earlier “Beck” demo and said Ezrin changed the title to “Beth” and reshaped lyrics, tempo and orchestration at the Record Plant.
- Simmons made his assertions on the Professor of Rock podcast, attributing the song primarily to Penridge and Ezrin and questioning Criss’s songwriting role.
- The dispute revives long-running tensions over authorship, even as “Beth” remains credited to Criss, Penridge and Ezrin and stands as KISS’s biggest U.S. hit, peaking at No. 7 and winning a 1977 People’s Choice Award.