What Is Paul Stanley's Net Worth?
Paul Stanley is an American rock musician who has a net worth of $200 million. Paul Stanley is best known for being the rhythm guitar player and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Kiss. Paul is a founding member and, along with Gene Simmons, the chief creative force behind the band's decades-long career.
Paul and Gene co-own Kiss. Everyone else is a paid performer. Gene has claimed that Kiss grosses over $100 million per year from touring, merchandise, and licensing deals. In April 2024, Gene and Paul sold the rights to the band's song catalog, image, likeness, and name for $300 million. More info on this transaction in the next paragraph.
Catalog and IP Sale
In April 2024, Gene and Paul sold the rights to Kiss' catalog, name, image, and likeness for $300 million. The deal also included the band's publishing rights and master recordings. The buyer was the Swedish music investment company Pophouse. Pophouse first gained prominence for creating a live avatar version of the group ABBA. That show, ABBA Voyage, reportedly generates over $1 million a week from its London residency alone. Pophouse was co-founded by ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus. It is presumed that Pophouse will create avatar-touring versions of Kiss in the future.
Early Life
Paul Stanley was born Stanley Bert Eisen on January 20, 1952, in Manhattan, New York. While one might expect the "Starchild" of Kiss to have been a big rock fan growing up, he, in fact, has said that he grew up listening to light opera and other forms of classical music along with his parents, professing a particular childhood love for the work of Beethoven. Eventually, his tastes turned to more popular fare, as seen on the television show "American Bandstand," and Stanley has also said he was a fan of the doo-wop genre in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, everything changed for him when British Invasion acts (specifically The Beatles and The Rolling Stones) began appearing on American television, and he got his first guitar at age 13.
Music Career
Before joining Kiss, Stanley was a part of the bands Rainbow, Uncle Joe, and Post War Baby Boom. Paul first worked with Gene Simmons in a band called Wicked Lester. The pair stayed together and joined Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to form the band Kiss. Their first album was self-titled and released in 1974. With the release of the band's debut album, Stanley officially changed his name to Paul Stanley, inspired by both Beatle Paul McCartney and Paul Rogers of Bad Company.
Kiss has continued to release records in the intervening decades, hitting the peak of its fame in the early '80s. Stanley has always been a driving creative force for the band, not just as a performer but also as a songwriter, having written or co-written many of the band's biggest hits.
Like the other members of the band, Paul developed the character "Starchild" as his Kiss persona more or less on his own. He's experimented with other visual designs for his makeup at various points, but the Starchild is what stuck, and he attributes a lifelong fascination with stars to his connection to the character.
Stanley released a self-titled debut studio album in 1978. In 1989, he released a solo track to be included in the Wes Craven horror film "Shocker." He collaborated with the Boston power pop band Click Five on the 2005 single "Angel to You (Devil to Me)," and the following year, he released the album "Live to Win" in 2006 and "One Live Kiss" in 2008. That same year, Paul collaborated on a duet with classical singer Sarah Brightman for her album "Symphony," and in 2016, he lent his talents to his old Kiss bandmate Ace Frehley for a track on his covers album "Origins, Vol. 1."
Paul Stanley was ranked #18 on "Hit Parader's" list of the "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time." In a similar poll, Gibson.com readers ranked him 13th.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Other Work
In 1988, Paul Stanley was one of many hard rock and heavy metal artists featured in Penelope Spheeris's documentary "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years." Stanley conducted his own interview in a bed surrounded by women, making his contribution among the most memorable to the cult film's many fans. He starred in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," playing the Phantom in 1999. In 2006, Paul made his debut as a professional painter, exhibiting (and selling) his own original pieces. His memoir, "Face the Music: A Life Exposed," was published in 2014. Stanley has dabbled as a music producer, producing the 1978 debut album for the rock band New England. He's also said that he was invited to produce an album for the band Poison but that this collaboration never materialized due to his busy touring and recording schedule with Kiss.
Personal Life
Stanley was married to actress Pamela Bowen from 1992 to 2001. The two have one son, Evan Stanley, born in 1994. In November 2005, Stanley married Erin Sutton. In 2006, their first child, Colin, was born, followed by their second, Sarah, in 2009. In 2011, their third child, Emily Grace, was born.
In 2011, Stanley had surgery performed on his vocal cords. He's also had two hip replacement surgeries, both in 2004, necessities that in his opinion were thanks to his habit of wearing platform boots for onstage performances.
In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of the band Kiss. Along with Gene Simmons and manager Don McGhee, Paul became part of the ownership group for the L.A. Kiss team in the Arena Football League, and in 2012, they collaborated on the Rock & Brews restaurant chain. He has served as an ambassador for the organization AboutFace because of his birth defect microtia.
Paul Stanley Quote on Money
"The financial reward is great and I love the life I have, but all money makes possible is for you to stop worrying about money. Then you have freedom to live your life." – Paul Stanley
Real Estate
Paul Stanley now lives primarily in Los Angeles. His LA home is an expansive 9,000-square-foot estate in the Tuscan style, located on Mulholland Drive and built specifically for him in 1996. The home includes all the usual luxury amenities like outdoor fountains and a swimming pool, and until Colin was born in 2006, it also had an art studio, which was then reportedly moved to the guest house to make room for the baby.
