Swapping the stage for the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Gene Simmons traded his usual rock star trappings and signature black-and-white face makeup for a suit.

The hard-charging former KISS bassist testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee on Tuesday in support of a bill that aims to compensate artists for the use of their songs on the radio.

The bill , which was reintroduced in the Senate in January by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would require terrestrial AM/FM radio broadcasters to pay royalties to copyright holders when their songs are played.

“It looks like a small issue, there are wars going on and everything, but our emissaries to the world are Elvis and Frank Sinatra,” Simmons said. “When they find out we’re not tre

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