Before joining
Wicked Lester, Paul Stanley was in a local band, Rainbow (not to be confused with
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow) and Uncle Joe. Through a mutual friend of
Gene Simmons, Stanley joined Simmons' band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s. The band recorded an album in
1971, but as of
2005 it has never been officially released (although songs from the album appeared on Kiss's 2001 box set). Wicked Lester soon fell apart and Stanley and Simmons placed ads for a drummer and a guitarist in various New York papers. This resulted in
Peter Criss and
Ace Frehley joining the group, and they named themselves
Kiss. Kiss released their self-titled debut in February
1974.
Paul's persona in Kiss is "The Starchild." Wearing Spandex and platform boots, Stanley's persona is that of a
Don Juan-esque lover, combining effeminate elements with elements of extreme masculinity, rather than mere
androgyny. Although Paul's voice is generally very soft and eloquent during normal conversation, he uses a specific "stage voice" which is like a "Rock N' Roll Preacher" unlike most leading rock frontmen, he gets the crowd to join the band in many of their classic hits and also tends to give a speech or "scripted" story for certain songs (i.e. having sexual encounters with nurses and other women he's met on tour and how much he supports U.S. troops overseas) much like Gene Simmons adopts an animalistic growl on stage for his demon persona.
In his book
Sex Money Kiss, Gene Simmons admits that Paul was the driving force for Kiss during the makeup-free
1980s, while Simmons was feeling lost without his demon makeup and attempting to launch a film career.
In
1999 Stanley starred in a
Toronto production of
The Phantom of the Opera, 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. While in Toronto, Stanley was contacted by AboutFace, an organization that provides support and information to individuals with facial differences, and asked to help raise awareness for them. Although he was approached due to his role as The Phantom, Stanley was in fact born with
Microtia, a congenital deformity of the
pinna (outer ear). He has appeared at fundraising events and in videos for the organization.
In
2001 Stanley's wife,
Dallas native Pamela Bowen, filed for divorce. They have one son, Evan Shane Stanley, born in June of 1996.
Stanley badly needed hip replacement surgery but suffered through the
Rock The Nation tour first, finally getting the surgery in
October 2005. Complications from the surgery required a second in
December of that year, and in
December 2005 it has been announced that a third hip surgery will be necessary. Stanley regards the degeneration of his left hip as partly the product of thousands of shows performed since the early
1970s. In the "Rock The Nation Live" DVD he spends much more time standing in one place than he has on previous DVDs and tours.
On
November 19 2005, Paul Stanley married longtime girlfriend Erin Sutton at The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington in
Pasadena, California. They welcomed their first child, 8lb. 6oz. Colin Michael Stanley, on Wednesday,
September 6,2006.
Stanley made his debut as a painter in 2005, exhibiting and selling original works of art.
In 2006, Stanley resumed his association with Washburn Guitars and using the
Washburn PS2000. Previously, he has had four signature guitars made by
Silvertone, and tweaked the
Ibanez Iceman to his specifications, calling it the PS10.
Stanley's most recent performances with Kiss were a group of shows in July 2007, dubbed the Hit 'N Run Tour. Prior to the final show on
July 27, Stanley was hospitalized with an
extremely rapid heartbeat. In his absence, Kiss performed live as a trio for the first time. Previously, Kiss performed as a trio at Studio 54 in New York City for an international satellite broadcast on
January 28, 1982, lip-syncing the song "I" from
Music From "The Elder" for the Italian
Festival della canzone italiana, also known as the Sanremo Festival, when Ace Frehley failed to show for the performance due to what was described at the time as a mystery "illness." The
July 27, 2007 concert is the first Kiss concert Stanley has missed during his 33-year tenure with the group.
In
September 2007, Stanley took part in
Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp as a guest star for his second time in New York City.
