Paul Stanley

P

aul Stanley (Full name: Stanley Bert Eisen; born January 20, 1952) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for being the co-founder, front-man, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular songs. For Kiss, Stanley established The Starchild character.

Stanley's right ear was misshapen from a birth defect called microtia until having reconstructive surgery at the age of 30. Until this time, 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.

Before Kiss, Stanley was in local band, Rainbow (not to be confused with the Ritchie Blackmore band of the same name) 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 in the early 1970s.

Stanley released the solo album, Paul Stanley (1978) as part of the four simultaneously released Kiss solo albums, but he has rarely recorded or performed outside of Kiss otherwise. 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. Time Traveler, a track from the same project, was released as part of Kiss' 2001 box set, however. He would try his hand at a solo effort again with Live to Win (2006).