Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952)[1] is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retirement in 2023. He was 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.
This article is about the musician. For other people with this name, see Paul Stanley (disambiguation).
Paul Stanley
The Starchild
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
1970–present
-
Pamela Bowen(m. 1992; div. 2001)
-
Erin Sutton(m. 2005)
4
- Vocals
- guitar
- Paul Stanley's Soul Station
In 2006, Hit Parader ranked him 18th on their list of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.[2] A Gibson.com readers' poll in 2010 named him 13th on their list of Top 25 Frontmen.[3]
Early life[edit]
Stanley Bert Eisen was born in upper Manhattan, New York City, near 211th St. and Broadway; the Inwood neighborhood near Inwood Hill Park. Both of his parents are Jewish. He was the youngest of two children; his sister Julia[4] is two years older. Their mother came from a family that fled Nazi Germany for Amsterdam, the 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.[5] His parents listened to classical music and light opera; Stanley was greatly moved by Beethoven's works.
Since Stanley's right ear was misshapen from a birth defect called microtia 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.[6] Attending PS 98, he was taunted by other children for his deformed ear.[7]
Despite his hearing problem, Stanley enjoyed listening to music, and he watched American Bandstand on television. His favorite musical artists included Eddie Cochran, Dion and the Belmonts, 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.[8][9]
Stanley's family relocated to the Kew Gardens neighborhood in Queens in 1960.[10] He listened to a lot of doo-wop music, but when the Beatles and the 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 by Bob Dylan, the Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful and more.[8]
All through his childhood Stanley had been recognized for his talent in graphic arts, so he attended the High School of Music & Art in New York City, graduating in 1970.[11]
Vocals and playing style[edit]
Possessing a tenor vocal range, Stanley tends to sing in the high registers and is known for his falsetto.[30] Stanley uses Ibanez 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 and Ovation among others. He has also previously used amplifiers by Fender and later Randall.[31]