Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band
Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular songs. Stanley established The Starchild character for his Kiss persona. Stanley was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
In 2006, ''
Hit Parader
''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 198 ...
'' ranked him 18th on their list of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. A Gibson.com readers' poll in 2010 named him 13th on their list of Top 25 Frontmen.
Early life
Stanley Bert Eisen was born January 20, 1952, in upper
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
, New York City, near
211th St. and
Broadway; the
Inwood neighborhood near
Inwood Hill Park. Both of his parents are Jewish. He was the second of two children; his sister Julia
was born two years earlier. Their mother came from a family that fled
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Netherlands, and then to New York City. His father's parents were from Poland. Stanley was raised Jewish, although he did not consider his family very observant and did not celebrate his
bar mitzvah. His parents listened to classical music and
light opera; Stanley was greatly moved by
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's works.
Stanley's right ear was misshapen from a birth defect called
microtia until having reconstructive surgery at age 30 in 1982; he was unable to hear on that side, he found it difficult to determine the direction of a sound, and he could not understand speech in a noisy environment. Attending
PS 98, he was taunted by other children for his deformed ear.
Despite his hearing problem, Stanley enjoyed listening to music, and he watched ''
American Bandstand'' on television. His favorite musical artists included
Eddie Cochran
Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desir ...
,
Dion and the Belmonts
Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal trio prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo ...
,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Little Richard. Stanley learned to sing harmony with his family, and he was given a child's guitar at age seven.
Stanley's family relocated to the
Kew Gardens neighborhood in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
in 1960. He listened to a lot of
doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
music, but when
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
and
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
played on U.S. television he was inspired by the performance aspect, which he thought was not out of his reach. Stanley received his first real guitar at age 13, an acoustic one that he would have preferred to be electric. He played tunes by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
the Byrds,
the Lovin' Spoonful and more.
All through his childhood Stanley had been recognized for his talent at graphic arts, so he attended the
High School of Music & Art in New York City, graduating in 1970.
Kiss
Before Kiss, Stanley was in a local band, Rainbow and was a member of Uncle Joe and Post War Baby Boom. Through a mutual friend of
Gene Simmons, Stanley joined Simmons' band
Wicked Lester
Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Gene Klein and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to avoid confusion with ...
in the early 1970s. The band recorded an album in 1972, but it was never officially released. Wicked Lester fell apart and Stanley and Simmons answered
Peter Criss's advertisement in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
''. Soon after recruiting Criss, they held auditions for a lead guitarist, with Stanley placing an ad in the ''Village Voice''.
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wi ...
won the group over with his playing, and was nearly a perfect fit to the group's sound. Kiss released their
self-titled debut album in February 1974.
At this point, Stanley had the idea of changing his name not only for marketing purposes but also the fact he had always hated his birth name. Inspired by
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...
and
Paul Rodgers, he legally changed his name to Paul Stanley.
Stanley's persona in Kiss is "the Starchild" displaying one star over his right eye. For a brief time, Stanley tried out a new character "the Bandit", with a "
Lone Ranger" style mask design make-up pattern. This make-up design was used during a few 1973–74 shows and photo-shoots, some of which he was photographed with both designs in the same session. "I even tried painting my face all red," he admitted. "I looked like a longhaired tomato! Before settling on the star, I'd just paint a black ring around my eye… Each of us wears something that reflects who we are. I always loved stars and always identified with them – so, when it came time to put something on my face, I knew it would be a star."
In his book ''Sex Money Kiss'',
Gene Simmons says Stanley was the driving force for KISS during the period in the 1980s when the band performed without makeup. Those years, Stanley noted, "were fine for me. I found them very satisfying because I got a chance to be out there without makeup, which I craved at that point. I think it was easier for me ''
han Simmons' because my persona was one that wasn't really defined by the makeup… The makeup was just reinforcing what you were seeing and who I was."
In 2007, Stanley was hospitalized with
tachycardia
Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal ( ...
. In his absence, Kiss performed live as a trio for the first time in decades. The concert was the first Kiss performance Stanley missed.
Solo career
Stanley released his first solo album ''
Paul Stanley'' as part of the four simultaneously released Kiss solo albums, but he has rarely recorded or performed outside of Kiss. He wrote and recorded material for another album in 1987–88, but it was shelved in favor of the Kiss compilation ''
Smashes, Thrashes & Hits''. While never officially released, songs such as "Don't Let Go" and "When Two Hearts Collide" have circulated as
bootleg recordings. One song from the project, "Time Traveler", was released as part of Kiss' 2001
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
.
In 1989, Stanley embarked on a brief club tour. His touring band included guitarist
Bob Kulick and future Kiss drummer
Eric Singer. The same year, Stanley sang lead on the title track for the soundtrack of the
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
horror film
''Shocker''.
Twenty-eight years after releasing his first solo album, Stanley released a second album, ''
Live to Win
''Live to Win'' is the second solo studio album from Kiss vocalist, guitarist and co-founder Paul Stanley, released on October 24, 2006. The album's title track was featured in the ''South Park'' episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", twenty days pr ...
'', on October 24, 2006. Its title song "Live to Win" appears in the ''
South Park'' episode "
Make Love, Not Warcraft". In October and November 2006, Stanley embarked on a theater tour in support of ''Live to Win''. His touring band was the house band from the
CBS TV show ''
Rock Star'', composed of
Paul Mirkovich (keyboards),
Jim McGorman
Jim McGorman (born c. 1974), a native of Philadelphia, is an American musician, songwriter/producer and multi-instrumentalist: guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and drummer. McGorman is best known for his work with the House Band on the CBS telev ...
(guitar),
Rafael Moreira (lead guitar),
Nate Morton (drums), and
Sasha Krivtsov (bass). In April 2007, Stanley extended the tour to include Australia, playing in Coolangatta, Wollongong, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. Portions of the tour were filmed for a documentary titled ''Paul Stanley: Live to Dream'' by the Chicago-based Film Foetus. The band's performance at the
House of Blues in Chicago was captured on film and released in 2008 on DVD and digital audio download formats as ''One Live Kiss''.
In 2008, Stanley sang a duet with
Sarah Brightman, "
I Will Be with You", on her ''
Symphony'' album. In 2016, he guested in
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wi ...
's covers album ''
Origins, Vol. 1
''Origins Vol. 1'' is the fifth studio album by American guitarist Ace Frehley, released on April 13, 2016 in Japan and April 15 in the United States. It is a covers album which features guest appearances from Slash, Lita Ford, John 5, Mike McC ...
'', singing "
Fire and Water" by
Free
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procur ...
.
In 2015, Stanley established Paul Stanley's Soul Station, a tribute band playing a mix of soul oldies from the 1960s and 1970s with original songs in the same style. Paul Stanley's Soul Station released its first album in 2021, along with its lead single, the original "I, Oh I."
Vocals
Possessing a tenor vocal range, Stanley tends to sing in the high registers and is known for his
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...
.
Other projects
In 1999, Stanley starred in a Toronto production of ''
The Phantom of the Opera'', in which he played the role of the Phantom. He appeared in the musical from May 25 to August 1, and again that year from September 30 to October 31, 1999, closing the show's ten-year run in Toronto. Stanley made his debut as a painter in 2006, exhibiting and selling original works of art. Stanley collaborated with
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
-based
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ...
group
Click Five on their
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
, "Angel To You (Devil To Me)".
Stanley produced a debut album for the band
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...
. Their first single from that album in 1978 "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya" reached the Top 40 in 1979.
In 2012, Stanley partnered with Gene Simmons and three other investors to form the restaurant franchise
Rock & Brews.
On August 15, 2013, Stanley, Gene Simmons and manager
Doc McGhee became a part of the ownership group that created the
L.A. Kiss Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
team, which plays their home games at the
Honda Center in
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
. The team folded in 2016.
In April 2014, Stanley published his memoir, ''Face the Music: A Life Exposed'' ().
In the memoir, Stanley, who is Jewish, accused former bandmates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss of
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
An unreleased song written by Stanley along with
Jean Beauvoir, titled "Like a Bee to the Honey", was recorded and released by the Finnish hard rock band
Lordi
Lordi () is a Finnish hard rock/ heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu). In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster mask ...
for their album, ''
Killection
''Killection'' is the tenth studio album by the Finnish hard rock band Lordi. It was released on 31 January 2020, via AFM Records. The band stated that the album is considered a 'fictional compilation' and would contain songs you would normall ...
''.
Personal life
In 2001, Stanley's first wife, actress Pamela Bowen, filed for divorce after nine years of marriage. They have one son, born in June 1994. On November 19, 2005, Stanley married longtime girlfriend Erin Sutton at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in
Pasadena, California. The couple had a son in September 2006, a daughter in January 2009 and a daughter in August 2011.
In 1982, after he turned 30 years old, Stanley had reconstructive surgery for his right ear done by Frederic Rueckert, who had been performing the procedure primarily on children. The new ear was formed from cartilage from one of the singer's ribs, with skin grafts put over it. Stanley said the surgery had given him "a new lease on life" and was so grateful to Rueckert that he gave the doctor a
Rolex
Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...
watch upon his retirement.
Because of his birth defect of
microtia, Stanley is an ambassador for the charitable organization
AboutFace
AboutFace is a Canadian registered charity founded in 1985. AboutFace is the only Canadian charity dedicated to providing support and programs to individuals with facial disfiguration, and their families.
Since its creation, AboutFace has aided ...
, an organization that provides support and information to people with facial differences. He has appeared at fundraising events and in videos to raise awareness.
Stanley has had two hip-replacement surgeries: one after the "Rock the Nation" tour in October 2004, and a second in December 2004 after complications arose from the first surgery. He had announced in 2005 that he will require a third hip surgery in the future. He regards the degeneration of his left hip as partly the product of thousands of shows performed in
platform boots since the early 1970s.
In October 2011, Stanley had surgery on his
vocal cords
In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...
. He said, "I hold myself to a higher standard than others do. With that in mind, I wanted to remedy a few minor issues that come with 40 years of preaching rock 'n' roll."
Awards
*Inducted into the
Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006
*Showman of the Year award of the Classic Rock Awards for 2008
*Classic Gold Telly Award for his concert film ''
One Live Kiss
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
'' in 2009
*Sound Partners Lifetime Achievement Award from the House Research Institute
*Gibson.com's Reader's Poll listed Stanley among rock and roll's 25 top frontmen and -women.
*Stanley, along with original Kiss members, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
Discography
Studio albums
Solo
* ''
Paul Stanley'' (1978)
* ''
Live to Win
''Live to Win'' is the second solo studio album from Kiss vocalist, guitarist and co-founder Paul Stanley, released on October 24, 2006. The album's title track was featured in the ''South Park'' episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", twenty days pr ...
'' (2006)
Paul Stanley's Soul Station
* ''Now and Then'' (2021)
with Kiss
* ''
Kiss'' (1974)
* ''
Hotter than Hell'' (1974)
* ''
Dressed to Kill'' (1975)
* ''
Destroyer'' (1976)
* ''
Rock and Roll Over
''Rock and Roll Over'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1976. It was recorded at the Star Theatre in Nanuet, New York.
Album information
To get the proper drum sound, Peter Criss recorded his tracks in a bath ...
'' (1976)
* ''
Love Gun
''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
'' (1979)
* ''
Unmasked'' (1980)
* ''
Music from "The Elder"'' (1981)
* ''
Creatures of the Night'' (1982)
* ''
Lick It Up
''Lick It Up'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kiss. Before its 1983 release, the band members appeared on MTV without their trademark make-up. It was the first public appearance without make-up by the band, and their firs ...
'' (1983)
* ''
Animalize
''Animalize'' is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Kiss. It was released on September 13, 1984, by Mercury Records. The album marked the only appearance by lead guitarist Mark St. John, who replaced Vinnie Vincent in April 1984.
B ...
'' (1984)
* ''
Asylum'' (1985)
* ''
Crazy Nights
''Crazy Nights'' is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, recorded from March to June 1987 and released on September 21, 1987, by Mercury worldwide and Vertigo in the UK. This was the second album to feature the line-up of Gene ...
'' (1987)
* ''
Hot in the Shade'' (1989)
* ''
Revenge'' (1992)
* ''
Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions'' (1997)
* ''
Psycho Circus'' (1998)
* ''
Sonic Boom
A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Monster
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
'' (2012)
Live albums
* ''
Alive!'' (1975)
* ''
Alive II'' (1977)
* ''
Alive III'' (1993)
* ''One Live Kiss'' (2008)
(DVD and digital download)
Guest appearances
* "Fire and Water" (from the Ace Frehley album ''
Origins, Vol. 1
''Origins Vol. 1'' is the fifth studio album by American guitarist Ace Frehley, released on April 13, 2016 in Japan and April 15 in the United States. It is a covers album which features guest appearances from Slash, Lita Ford, John 5, Mike McC ...
'') (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
Paul Stanley official website*
Interview with Paul Stanley ClassicRockCentral.com, 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Paul
1952 births
American heavy metal guitarists
American heavy metal singers
American hard rock musicians
American painters
Record producers from New York (state)
American tenors
American people of German-Jewish descent
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
Jewish rock musicians
Jewish singers
Living people
Musicians with disabilities
Kiss (band) members
People from Kew Gardens, Queens
Singers from New York City
Rhythm guitarists
Artists from New York City
People from Inwood, Manhattan
American rock songwriters
Jewish heavy metal musicians
Guitarists from New York City
The High School of Music & Art alumni
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
21st-century American singers
American male guitarists
Jewish American songwriters
Musicians with fictional stage personas