Paul Stanley | |
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.jpg) Paul Stanley at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2025 | |
| Born | Stanley Bert Eisen (1952-01-20)January 20, 1952 (age 74) New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | The Starchild |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
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| Children | 4 |
| Musical career | |
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| Website | paulstanley |
Musical artist | |
Paul Stanley (bornStanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952)[1] is an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and a founding member of the hard rock bandKiss, which was active from 1973 to 2023. He was the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular songs. Stanley establishedthe Starchild character for his Kiss persona.
In 2006,Hit Parader ranked Stanley 18th on their list of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.[2] AGibson.com readers' poll in 2010 named him 13th on their list of Top 25 Frontmen.[3] He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.
Stanley Bert Eisen was raised in upperManhattan, New York City, 211th Street and Broadway.[4] Both of his parents wereJewish. He was the younger of two children; his sister Julia[5] is two years older. Their mother Eva Jontof-Hutter[6] Stanley's mother Eva was born in Berlin/Germany in 1923 and came from a family that fledNazi Germany forAmsterdam, the Netherlands, and then to New York City. His father William Eisen's parents Rebecca and Harry Eisenhandler were from Poland.[7] Stanley was raised Jewish, although he did not consider his family very observant and did not celebrate hisbar mitzvah.[8]
Since Stanley's right ear was misshapen from a birth defect calledmicrotia and he was unable to hear on that side, he found it difficult to determine the direction of a sound, and was unable to understand speech in a noisy environment.[9] AttendingPS 98, he was taunted by other children for his deformed ear.[10]
Despite his hearing problem, Stanley enjoyed listening to music, and he watchedAmerican Bandstand on television. His favorite musical artists includedEddie Cochran,Dion and the Belmonts,Jerry Lee Lewis, andLittle Richard. Stanley learned to sing harmony with his family, and he was given a child's guitar at age seven.[11][12]
Stanley's family relocated to theKew Gardens neighborhood inQueens in 1960.[13] He listened to a lot ofdoo-wop music, but whenthe Beatles andthe Rolling Stones 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 byBob Dylan,the Byrds,the Lovin' Spoonful and more.[11]
All through his childhood Stanley had been recognized for his talent in graphic arts. He attended theHigh School of Music & Art in New York City, graduating in 1970.[14]
Before Kiss, Stanley was in a local band, Rainbow,[15] and was a member of Uncle Joe and Post War Baby Boom. Through a mutual friend ofGene Simmons, Stanley joined Simmons' bandWicked Lester 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 answeredPeter Criss's advertisement inRolling Stone.[16][17][18] Soon after recruiting Criss, they held auditions for a lead guitarist, with Stanley placing an ad in theVillage Voice.Ace Frehley won the group over with his playing, and was nearly a perfect fit to the group's sound. Kiss released theirself-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 byPaul McCartney andPaul Rodgers, he legally changed his name to Paul Stanley.[19][20]
Stanley's persona in Kiss was "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 long-haired 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."[21]
In his bookSex 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[than 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".[22]
In 2007, Stanley was hospitalized withtachycardia. In his absence, Kiss performed live as a trio for the first time in decades. The concert was the first Kiss performance Stanley missed.[23]
During the first leg of the band'sfinal tour, Stanley was accused by fans oflip syncing and usingbacking tracks.[24] In response to the allegations, Stanley did not confirm nor deny that he lip syncs on stage, saying he is taking care of his voice.[25] Accusations were later revived by fans following the band's performance in Belgium on June 6, 2022, when a slip-up occurred with the fireworks and drum cues a measure late on the opening song, "Detroit Rock City".[26] Doc McGhee, the band's manager, later confirmed simultaneously that Stanley did sing fully, but will sing to tracks, denying that he was lip-syncing.[27]
Stanley released his first solo albumPaul 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 compilationSmashes, Thrashes & Hits. While never officially released, songs such as "Don't Let Go" and "When Two Hearts Collide" have circulated asbootleg recordings. One song from the project, "Time Traveler", was released as part of Kiss's 2001box set.[28]
In 1989, Stanley embarked on a brief club tour. His touring band included guitaristBob Kulick and future Kiss drummerEric Singer. In the same year, Stanley shared lead vocals withDesmond Child on the title track for the soundtrack of theWes Craven horror filmShocker.
Twenty-eight years after releasing his first solo album, Stanley released a second album,Live to Win, on October 24, 2006. Its title song "Live to Win" appears in theSouth Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft". In October and November 2006, Stanley embarked on a theater tour in support ofLive to Win. His touring band was the house band from theCBS TV showRock Star, composed ofPaul Mirkovich (keyboards),Jim McGorman (guitar),Rafael Moreira (lead guitar),Nate Morton (drums), andSasha 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 titledPaul Stanley: Live to dream by the Chicago-based Film Foetus.[29] The band's performance at theHouse of Blues in Chicago was captured on film and released in 2008 on DVD and digital audio download formats asOne Live Kiss.[30]
In 2008, Stanley sang a duet withSarah Brightman, "I Will Be with You", on herSymphony album. In 2016, he guested inAce Frehley's covers albumOrigins, Vol. 1, singing "Fire and Water" byFree.[31]
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".[32]
Possessing a tenor vocal range, Stanley tends to sing in the high registers and is known for hisfalsetto.[33] Stanley usesIbanez guitars (with various signature models currently available),Seymour Duncan pickups, Ernie Ball strings, and ENGL amplifiers, as well as custom-made Kiss signature picks. He has also used various other makes of guitar over the years, including Washburn (with whom he also had a signature model), Gibson, B.C. Rich, Ampeg, andOvation among others. He has also previously used amplifiers by Marshall, Fender and later Randall.[34]
In 1999, Stanley starred in a Toronto production ofThe Phantom of the Opera,[35] 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 withBoston-basedpower pop groupClick Five on theirhit single, "Angel to You (Devil to Me)".
Stanley produced a debut album for the bandNew England. Their first single from that album in 1978 "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya" reached the Top 40 in 1979.[36]
In 2012, Stanley partnered with Gene Simmons and three other investors to form the restaurant franchiseRock & Brews.[37]
On August 15, 2013, Stanley, Gene Simmons, and managerDoc McGhee became a part of the ownership group that created theL.A. KissArena Football League team, which played their home games at theHonda Center inAnaheim, California. The team folded in 2016.[38]
In April 2014, Stanley published his memoir,Face the Music: A Life Exposed (ISBN 978-0-06-211404-4).[5][39][40][41] In the memoir, Stanley, who is Jewish,[42] accused former bandmates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss ofantisemitism.[5][43]
An unreleased song written by Stanley along withJean Beauvoir, titled "Like a Bee to the Honey", was recorded and released by the Finnish hard rock bandLordi for their album,Killection.[44]
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In 1982, after he turned 30 years old, Stanley had reconstructive surgery for the microtia in his right ear. The new ear was formed from cartilage from one of his ribs, with skin grafts put over it. Stanley said the surgery had given him "a new lease on life" and was so grateful to the surgeon that he gave him aRolex watch upon his retirement.[45] Because of this birth-defect, Stanley is an ambassador for the charitable organizationAboutFace, an organization that provides support and information to people with facial differences. He has appeared at fundraising events and in videos to raise awareness.[46]
In 2001, Stanley's first wife, actress Pamela Bowen,[47] filed for divorce after nine years of marriage. They have one son. On November 19, 2005, Stanley married long-time girlfriend Erin Sutton at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel inPasadena, California. The couple had a son in September 2006, a daughter in January 2009,[48] and a daughter in August 2011.[49][50] Stanley considers his children Jewish but as Sutton is Catholic they raised them "100 percent Jewish and 100 percent Catholic".[51]
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 inplatform boots since the early 1970s.[citation needed]
In October 2011, Stanley had surgery on hisvocal cords. 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".[52]
My family lit candles and observed Jewish holidays in some vague ways, but we weren't very observant. I was never bar mitzvahed. . . . sure, I felt Jewish, but I didn't want to subject myself to being around any more people.
I was born with an ear deformity calledmicrotia, in which the outer ear cartilage fails to form properly and, to varying degrees of severity, leaves you with just a crumpled mass of cartilage. . . . That left me unable to tell the direction of sound, and more importantly, made it incredibly difficult for me to understand people when there was any kind of background noise or conversation.
Stanley has already starred in "The Phantom of the Opera" in Toronto
I'm Jewish and I believe in God, but I don't picture God as an old man with a beard and a robe sitting in heaven judging us.
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