Paul Stanley

Stanley Bert Eisen (born January 20, 1952), better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and painter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's highest-charting hits. Stanley established the "Starchild" character for his Kiss persona.

Hit Parader ranked him 18th on their list of Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Gibson.com Readers Poll also named him 13th on their list of Top 25 Frontmen.

Early life

Stanley Bert Eisen was born January 20, 1952, in upper Manhattan near 211th Street and Broadway; the Inwood neighborhood near Inwood Hill Park. He was the second of two children, and born two years after his sister Julia. His mother came from a family that fled Nazi Germany to Amsterdam, 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 he was not bar mitzvahed. His parents listened to classical music and light opera; Stanley was greatly moved by Beethoven's works. His right ear was misshapen from a birth defect called microtia; he was unable to hear on that side, thus he found it difficult to determine the direction of a sound, and he could not understand speech in a noisy environment. Attending PS 98, he was taunted by other children for his deformed ear.