Paul Stanley Life, Albums, Songs, Experience & Career

American artist Paul Stanley is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band KISS. He also helped start the band. Stanley has led the band through decades of lineup changes and changing tastes in popular culture.

Who is Paul?

Paul Stanley grew up in New York City. In the early 1970s, he joined forces with Gene Simmons on bass, Peter Criss on drums, and Ace Frehley on guitar to form the famous hard-rock band KISS. KISS became famous all over the world with songs like “Rock and Roll All Night” and albums like “Destroyer”. Their characters wore makeup and their live shows were very exciting. 

 He has also been a New York Times best-selling author. An artist who has sold more than $15 million worth of art, a designer, and a successful restaurant owner. He is still tangled in a number of charities, including some that help the military.

Early Years:

Paul Stanley’s parents, Eva and William Eisen, gave birth to Stanley Bert Eisen on January 20, 1952, in New York City. Stanley was born with a condition called microtia. Which left him with a partially formed right ear and made him deaf on that side. He found comfort in the classical music his parents liked and the doo-wop songs he heard on the radio. By the time he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, he knew that rock ‘n’ roll would be his way to fame.

School Life:

Stanley bought his first electric guitar when he was 14 and started jamming with his friends in Queens. He got into Manhattan’s High School of Music and Art because he could draw well. He spent most of his junior year playing with a band called Post War Baby Boom and sending his songs to publishing companies to get them to publish them.

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Meeting Gene Simmons and Wicked Lester:

At the end of high school, Stanley met Simmons, who was then known as Gene Klein and played bass and wrote songs. Stanley was at first put off by the older musician’s strong personality. He quickly came to respect his creativity and work ethic. The two of them joined forces with guitarist Steve Coronel, keyboardist Brooke Ostrander, and drummer Tony Zarrella to form the band that became Wicked Lester.

Album for the Label:

Because Stanley didn’t give up, Wicked Lester was able to record at Electric Lady Studios under the watch of producer Ron Johnsen. Johnsen then got the band a deal with Epic Records. But Stanley and Simmons didn’t like that the group didn’t have a clear sound, so in 1972, after making an album for the label, they went off on their own.

Song Writer:

Stanley and Simmons kept writing songs while putting together a new band with Criss on drums and Frehley on lead guitar. They came up with their stage names based on who they were as people: Stanley was the Starchild, Simmons was the Demon, Frehley was the Spaceman, and Criss was the Catman. Stanley suggested the name KISS, which they all liked.

Signed with Rookie Manager:

By the fall of 1973, KISS had signed with rookie manager Bill Aucoin and Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart. With the money from their new record label, they pushed for more pyrotechnics and theatricality that helped define the band’s live shows. After that, KISS went on their first tour and released their first self-titled album in February 1974. Stanley shared lead vocals and wrote songs like “Firehouse” and “Black Diamond” on his own.

Destroyer and Alive:

Even though their shows were getting more and more popular and they were getting more and more fans, who became known as the “KISS Army,” their first three albums didn’t sell very well.

Best Live Album:

With 1975’s Alive! KISS finally broke through. The album did a great job of capturing the high-octane energy of their live shows and is still called one of the best live albums of all time. The best version of the song “Rock and Roll All Night” was on this record. The rising band kept their multi-platinum status with the 1976 album Destroyer. It was produced by Bob Ezrin and had songs like “Detroit Rock City” and “Shout it Out Loud” written and sung by Stanley.

Selling Worth:

By the late 1970s, KISS was selling more than $100 million worth of merchandise every year. However, the band’s creative and personal problems were made worse by the fact that two of its members were drinking and using drugs.

Changes in the Lineup and Taking off Makeup:

When Criss and then Frehley left KISS in the early 1980s, Eric Carr (the Fox) on drums and Vinnie Vincent (the Egyptian Ankh) on lead guitar started a new era. Fans had mixed feelings about the new artists, and albums like Music from “The Elder” were met with disinterest (1981).

Commercial Success:

Stanley and the others took off their makeup for a well-publicized appearance on MTV in September 1983. They were looking for a creative boost, and KISS’s Lick it Up album that same year was a commercial success. Asylum (1985) and Hot in the Shade (1989) were followed by more lineup changes. Bruce Kulick took over lead guitar duties in the middle of the 1980s.  Eric Singer took over drums by the time Carr died of cancer in 1991.

Reunion Tours and “Unplugged” Tours:

Revenge, which came out in 1992 and was well received by critics, was made possible by a reunion with Ezrin. In August 1995, Criss and Frehley were asked to come back to MTV Unplugged to play while they were on the KISS Convention Tour.

Set Up a Series of Reunion Tours:

Stanley and Simmons, along with their manager Doc McGhee, set up a series of reunion tours where the original KISS lineup played in makeup for the first time in well over a decade. Even though the Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour made more money than any other concert in 1996, old problems eventually came back to the surface, and by the early 2000s, both Criss and Frehley were no longer in the band.

KISS kept going with Singer and Tommy Thayer on guitar. In 2009, they released Sonic Boom, which included Stanley’s “Modern Day Delilah,” and in 2012, they released Monster. The veteran band started their End of the Road Tour at the beginning of 2019.

Personal Life:

Stanley and his wife, attorney Erin Sutton, have two daughters and a son together. Stanley has a child from a past marriage.

Art and Style:

Based on Frehley’s original idea, Stanley made the KISS logo. Since 1974, the design that Stanley made by hand has been used. He told the Huffington Post in 2019 that the S’s aren’t quite parallel because he made the logo by eye with a straight-edged ruler. The musician has also shown his artistic skills by designing many of the band’s album covers, costumes, and guitars and sneakers for major brands.

Stanley got back into painting after being in the rock band KISS for a long time. His unique portraits and abstract paintings have been shown in international shows and sold for more than $15 million.

Station for Solo Music and Soul:

Stanley and the other members of KISS all put out albums with their own names in September 1978. He left KISS to go on tour in 1989, and his second solo album, Live to Win, came out in 2006.

Stanley’s 15-piece band, Soul Station, was formed in 2015. It was inspired by his R&B tastes. Now and Then, the group’s 2021 album, has covers of classic songs like Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” as well as original songs that sound like they were made in the Motown style.

Social Causes:

In the early 1980s, Stanley had surgery to fix his right ear. On behalf of the Canadian charity About Face. He has talked about how hard it is to live with a birth defect. In addition to his ongoing work with military organizations. He has also worked with the House Research Institute to raise awareness about the dangers of loud sounds and music.

Books and Theater:

In 1999, the longtime performer made the jump to theatre by playing the title role in the tenth year of The Phantom of the Opera in Toronto. After standing ovations every night, his run was extended because people wanted to see him again. Stanley went on to be the last Phantom in the show, which he then closed. In 2014, he wrote face the Music: A Life Exposed, which became a New York Times best-seller. In 2018, he wrote Backstage Pass, a memoir and lifestyle guide.

Experience:

After 50 years of rocking all night and partying every day, KISS, the band with the most Gold Records, told their story of success. Before smashing their last guitar and putting out the fire-breathing demon. Stanley and Simmons, along with current members Thayer and Singer and guests Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), manager Doc McGhee (Motley Crue, Bon Jovi), music producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd), and more, told the wild story of the most successful and influential band in the world. Watch a sneak peek: