Tale of the Tape: Gene Simmons and Miley Cyrus

Oct. 8, 2012 -- intro: Miley Cyrus has made headlines for repeatedly sticking out her tongue, but, as any music fan knows, KISS's Gene Simmons made that move famous long before the "Wrecking Ball" singer, 20, was even born. So what else do the two have in common? ABC News investigated.

quicklist: 1title: New Namestext: Gene Simmons? Try Chaim Witz. Born in Israel, Simmons adopted the name "Gene Simmons," after singer/songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons. Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus was born "Destiny Hope Cyrus," but her parents called her "Smiley," because of her happy disposition. Later, it was changed to "Miley," and the singer took on the name permanently.

quicklist: 2title: New Lookstext: "At some point, I'm going to cut it all off and just comb it back," Simmons once said of his famous coif. "When I put on a suit and sell out completely." Cyrus also cut off all of her hair, but for different reasons. "I felt like I could finally be the bad bitch I already am," she said of the new 'do.

quicklist: 3title: Special Ties to Conde Nasttext: Remember when Miley Cyrus posed for nude photos in Vanity Fair magazine when she was a teen? Ultimately, she said she was "embarrassed" and apologized, but it was one of her first major scandals. Simmons also got his start at the publishing company, as an assistant at Vogue magazine.

quicklist: 4title: History With Chertext: Cher recently apologized for making negative comments about Cyrus, saying she was "ashamed" of herself. Turns out, she has a history with Simmons, too. The two were involved in a romantic relationship in the '70s. "[We share] the best relationship I've ever had with a human being," she told People magazine in 1979.

quicklist: 5title: Nonchalance About Miley's Twerkingtext: Cyrus has said that she's already forgotten about her performance at the Video Music Awards, and Simmons feels the same. "I don't understand why people got so upset. Whether you stick out your tongue or shake your tushy, all the other girls are doing the same thing," he told Rolling Stone magazine. "Any girl whose name ends with an A -- Madonna, Shakira, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, all these girls who sing pop songs through backing tracks like it's karaoke and gyrate all over the stage -- if they can do it, why can't Miley? Either condemn the whole lot of them or leave her alone."

quicklist: 6title: Showbiz Is the Family Businesstext: Cyrus is obviously the daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, who appeared with her on the Disney show, "Hannah Montana." However, Simmons also starred on TV with his family in the reality series, "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels."

quicklist: 7title: Twitter Fanaticstext: Both singers love social media, and each has tweeted more than 5,500 times. However, Cyrus has amassed more than 14 million followers, while Simmons is only halfway to 1 million.