Kiss' Paul Stanley Finds 'Soul' With Side Band

As front man, guitarist, cofounder and co-lead vocalist of Kiss, Paul Stanley has played to packed stadiums across the globe and sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. But the performer known as “the Starchild” in his kabuki-inspired makeup has another side.

The man born Stanley Bert Eisen in the Bronx, New York, also fronts a project known as Paul Stanley’s Soul Station. Earlier this year, while Kiss was forced to postpone dates on its farewell tour due to the pandemic, the 15-piece-plus band released its debut album, Now and Then, featuring a mix of originals and covers of Motown and soul classics.

So how did the 69-year-old rocker who sang and co-wrote the 1976 Kiss classic “Detroit Rock City” make the move to the Motown sound? As far as Stanley is concerned, it’s not much of a stretch. “I really understand the gist and the soul of that music,” he says. “So it felt completely natural. There’s a Motown influence in Kiss that a lot of people might miss. If you listen to [Kiss’ 1976 hit] "Shout It Out Loud," that answer back and forth, that’s the Four Tops.” Stanley then proceeds to sing a bit of the song a cappella to prove his point. Next he offers a bit of Kiss’ 1979 rock-disco hit, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” and admits it was inspired by the Four Tops’ “Standing in the Shadows of Love.”

“There’s other songs that have Spinners or Philly soul,” he adds. “We may not have arranged them that way, but like any good recipe, it’s in there.”

Check out Stanley's Spotify playlist of his favorite Motown and soul classics.

It’s only fitting that Stanley, who has a passion for cooking, compares songwriting to a recipe. “I grew up in a household where music was like food,” he says. “There was variety. That’s really the reason why I think there’s only two types of music — good and bad. I grew up with classical music, Italian opera, show tunes, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, folk music — all of it. I was lucky enough to see Otis Redding live. So for me there’s never been a narrow sense of what music I wanted to listen to.”

Ironically, Stanley’s love of music developed despite the fact he was born with the birth defect known as microtia, which left him with a misshapen right ear and unable to hear on that side. It also made him feel as if he wanted to hide, years before he and his bandmates would don Kiss’ iconic makeup.

“I think all of us would love to blend in and choose when we stand out,” Stanley says. “Those who are born with differences don’t have that luxury. It’s like having a shirt on that everyone is staring at, so you go back to your house and change. But in this case, you don’t get to change. You are stuck. So it’s draining and there’s a sense of being exposed and vulnerable, but really it’s life changing, because it alters how you deal with people, which in turn alters how they deal with you.”

Aside from the physical difference, Stanley also had to overcome not being able to hear in his right ear. “I had to deal with being in school and not being able to really understand much of what was being said,” he says. “So that socially distanced me and made learning very, very difficult in school. At that time, learning disabilities were just not understood. What should be obvious was either overlooked or ignored.”

Though it may sound like a cliché, rock ’n’ roll literally saved Stanley’s life. Long before he became a star, he embraced the long hair favored by his musical heroes, including the Beatles. “It was twofold,” he says. “It was great that I could cover up my ear, and also I was choosing what I was being stared at for now. I was being stared at for the long hair, which was a choice, but what was behind it didn’t change. You can mask things for other people, but you still know you’re behind the mask.”

It wasn’t until years later, when he was a wealthy rock star and doctors developed a procedure to fix his ear, that Stanley had surgery. “It didn’t exist prior,” he says. “There weren’t a lot of adults who had had the surgery, and it involved taking rib cartilage. I don’t recommend anyone have their ribs gouged.” That tissue was then molded into an ear in a procedure that required multiple surgeries.

Through the years, Stanley has dealt with other physical ailments as part of the rigors of fronting a highly successful rock machine with his longtime partner, bassist and co-vocalist Gene Simmons, and a cast of other bandmates, including current guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.

“I’ve had both of my rotator cuffs repaired,” he says. “I tore both of those. About three years ago, I popped my bicep tendon and had to have that surgically repaired. I’ve torn both of my knees and had to have those repaired. I’ve had a hip replacement. So thank God for modern medicine and science, because you can keep going far longer than in the past. Your expiration date, so to speak, has been extended.

“I’m not the person I was when I was in my 20s, but I’m far from the person I thought I would be in my 60s,” he adds.

Still, after nearly 50 years of performing in platform boots, elaborate costumes and face paint, the members of Kiss have decided to hang it up. Their current tour is billed as “The Final Tour Ever — End of the Road.”

“We’re winding down and doing the ‘End of the Road’ tour because we’re not physically capable of doing this indefinitely,” he says. “As we get older, we begin to realize our own mortality. We also begin to see the stresses and strains of what is physically possible. To be onstage running around with 50 pounds of gear and making it look easy doesn’t get easier.”

Yet Stanley doesn’t necessarily see Soul Station as a more age-appropriate option. “All the Motown artists were in their 20s when that music came out,” he says. “So I don’t know if it is about being age-appropriate. In many ways, Kiss has never been appropriate, period. So that’s never been a part of my professional compass.”

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