Paul Stanley, from ‘chunky’ kid to fit KISS rocker

By James S. Fell

The “Starchild” outfit Paul Stanley wears as frontman forKISS is a revealing one. That’s why I chose it for Halloween a couple of years back. I wanted to showcase the efforts of my diet and exercise regimen. I got the hair wrong.

And at 61 years of age, Stanley can’t let himself go and still rock out to arenas full of screaming fans. As one of the hardest working bands in rock ‘n’ roll, he has a reputation to maintain — one he won’t let age tarnish. I’ve seen how lively KISS performances are up close and understand his dedication to fitness to keep the fans on their feet for the band’s Monster world tour.

Were you always such a fit guy?

The only exercise I got as a kid was fork to mouth. Food was equated with love in my household. I thought you left the table when the zipper was down and you’d explode if you took another bite. I’d eat my plate and then everyone else’s leftovers.

I was a chubby boy. My pants used to wear out in the middle, and it was because my legs used to rub together. I wasn’t obese, just chunky.

That doesn’t sound at all like the Paul Stanley we’ve seen on stage. What changed?

Even when the band started, I was chunkier, and the wide belt I used to wear on stage was a bit of a corset. Over the years that became unnecessary. I couldn’t do what I started doing onstage without “leaning out” because the physicality of it was akin to an aerobic workout. This was coupled with a mystery virus in the early ’70s that laid me up for a month and I barely ate. When that was over, I looked in the mirror and was pretty lean, and it had been a life dream of mine. And I decided to hang on to it.

Read the rest of the interview at LA Times

KISS Singer And Guitarist Paul Stanley Stays Fit

By Ben Radding

Photography by Glenn La Ferman

If you take away the black and white face paint, flashy stage outfits, and smoking guitars, KISS frontman Paul Stanley is an average guy—or at least he’s got average-guy priorities: staying fit, having fun, and enjoying his family. We recently caught up with the 61-year-old rocker, who told us why he stopped eating like a kid, how he balances his family with his tour dates, and his secret to avoiding drugs and alcohol when a rock-and-roll lifestyle practically spoon feeds you opportunities to indulge.

How would you say your diet and fitness routine today differs from your lifestyle in the 70s and 80s?

My routine then was: Eat whatever’s in front of you. Youth is incredible because you really do feel invincible. I had no real routine as far as diet; I ate what I wanted to. Back then I tended to eat a lot of sugars. I ate a lot of cookies, a lot of ice cream; I didn’t eat a lot of proper food. I started working out, doing a formal workout right around 1980. That’s when I really decided I needed to get in shape and it may have been because you just start to see a decrease—a change in your body. The workout I was doing then would kill me today.

What is your routine? Do you do it with a trainer?

It really depends. There’s certainly a time before a tour where you start to count days until you’re leaving and that’s crunch time—no pun intended. My workout is always with a trainer because, quite honestly, I don’t think most people are motivated enough to do what they need to on their own. You either need a spotter or you need a trainer. You need somebody there to push you to get that extra five.

Your performances often seem like workouts in themselves.

You can’t do that unless you train for it. You can’t enter the Olympics unless you do your routine to get in shape for it. The idea of going out on stage on a tour without having prepped for it would be suicide, literally.

How did you avoid alcohol and drugs in a culture that is surrounded by it—and it’s almost expected of you?

Common sense. You just have to look around you, and you have two choices. You either go “Gee, I want to be just like him!” or not. In the music business, I always go back to, if all those vices and excesses were so great, you’d probably be doing this interview with Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix or……

 

Read the rest of the interview here.

 

Iconic KISS frontman, Paul Stanley paints the pages of Star

Starchild Paul Stanley is featured in the March 19 edition of Star Magazine on newstands now. Star’s Senior Editor Liz Crokin paid a visit to Stanley’s Los Angeles art studio recently and was wowed by the legendary rocker’s artistic prowess. In addition to eagerly awaiting the next Paul Stanley-produced KISS album, a worldwide legion of fans are equally awaiting Stanley’s next artistic endeavor.

Related articles

• Paul Stanley’s ‘Nightline’ Segment Moved to Tonight (Jan. 10) (noisecreep.com)
• Happy Birthday Starchild! (wearwhatyoulike.wordpress.com)
• KISS Singer PAUL STANLEY: Entire Wall Street Journal Interview Available (Video) (roadrunnerrecords.com)
• KISS – Entire Band To Attend Mini Golf Opening (bravewords.com)
• KISS – Paul Stanley On Making It Big (bravewords.com)
• KISS Frontman On Staying Relevant After 40 Years (Video) (roadrunnerrecords.com)

Paul Stanley on NBC Tonight

Don’t forget to tune into KNBC tonight @ 11pm PST to watch Paul Stanley of the iconic rock band Kiss.  Paul talks about his art, his philanthropic efforts and why family is always first. He’ll also be on KNBC TV “Prime Time LA” with host Colleen Williams on Sunday at 9 pm PST following the football game.

 

LCO: Opening Doors at Epicentre 2010

At LCO, the opportunities for success and results are endless, Levine Communications carries a legacy of passion and achievement which allows our staff and clients to have amazing experiences. This past weekend LCO client, the rock band KISS performed at the Epicentre 2010 concert in Fontana, California. Amongst the LCO team present to support KISS, was publicist Gia Ghadimian. As the LCO team was backstage enjoying the KISS concert they spotted Door’s guitarist Robby Krieger. Gia, who happens to be a huge Doors fan was able to meet and chat with Krieger, an experience she will always remember.

Check out LCO publicist Gia with legendary Doors guitarist Robby Krieger:

KISS Is Always Pushing The Boundaries

BOOYAH’S SMASH HIT SOCIAL APP ‘NIGHTCLUB CITY’ AND ICONIC ROCK BAND KISS JOIN FORCES TO BRING FANS A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND LIVE CONCERT

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) Sept. 22, 2010 – In a music event that will mark the first time a band of historic magnitude has streamed a free concert to millions through a social game, KISS (www.KISSonline.com) will broadcast their final North American date of their hugely-successful 2010 Hottest Show on Earth concert tour live in Booyah’s Nightclub City (http://apps.facebook.com/nightclubcity), a wildly-popular, music-centric social game and marketing platform for musicians on Facebook.  The live concert will bring new and traditional media together by simultaneously airing on sites KROQ.com in Los Angeles and CBS Radio rock station websites nationwide via Ustream on Saturday, September 25, where KISS is headlining the Epicenter Twenty Ten Festival in Fontana, California.

Fans of KISS will be able to watch the iconic band play for FREE by simply logging on to the Nightclub City application in Facebook or by going to the KISS Ustream site. Those who view the concert in Nightclub City will be given exclusive KISS branded virtual goods to use in the game. In addition, Nightclub City players will have access to a dedicated KISS playlist in the game, featuring the top KISS songs of all-time.

Nightclub City is a digital game based around real-world music, and the landmark KISS event represents Booyah’s platform as a real-world gaming leader blending interactive entertainment with social apps while blurring the lines between the real and digital worlds.

“We’re celebrating the end of a monster tour by giving everyone a chance to relive some of what they heard and saw at the show. Unfortunately, we will not be responsible for computers melting,” said KISS co-founder Paul Stanley.

“We have always believed in pushing the boundaries…in giving the fans bang for the buck…in going where no band has gone before,” added KISS co-founder Gene Simmons.  “This one’s gonna rock big time!”

The dynamic world of Nightclub City is powered by Booyah’s vision of fusing elements from the real and digital worlds to create new forms of interactive entertainment.  Since opening its club doors in April 2010, more than 8.6 million active players have joined the party per month, and experienced new music within the social game setting and created special experiences that go beyond the realm of the digital world.

Those who watch the KISS concert through Nightclub City will be rewarded with special KISS- branded virtual goods. The broadcast starts with a pre-show at 8:30 PM on Saturday, September 25 at http://apps.facebook.com/nightclubcity.

Los Angeles Business Journal Mentions LCO

“Liam Collopy and Lee Runchey of Levine Communications Office in Los Angeles have won the Bulldog Award for Best Entertainment Campaign of the Year. The winning campaign was for the album “Sonic Boom” and a related 44-city concert tour by the rock band Kiss.”

Link to the full story:  http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2010/sep/13/west-hollywood-firm-sees-ex-nike-exec-shoo-/

A Match Made in Music Heaven

LCO Client and legendary rock band, KISS, was pictured backstage with Lady Gaga in the September 16, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone. The KISS Hottest Show on Earth Tour continues to make its way through the United States, with only 12 more shows to go.

With equally outrageous styles, it looks like Gaga fits right in! Stanley said to Gaga, “I was made for groping you!”

Lady Gaga got cozy with Kiss backstage before a New Jersey Show. “I felt an immediate kinship,” says guitarist Paul Stanley, who lent the pop star a pair of his boots. “We were the two with the least clothes on, though I don’t have to wear nipple tape. I view her as the queen bee in a nest of musical wanna-be’s.”

What do you think of this new companionship between KISS and Gaga??

For more info and updates on the KISS tour please visit www.kissonline.com

Sharing Success

Levine Communications Office has had the distinct honor of receiving the ‘Best Arts & Entertainment Campaign of the Year‘ by the Bulldog Awards for Excellence in Media Relations and Publicity, LCO also won the award in 2006. The Bulldog awards, the Oscars of the communications world, are given out yearly for various achievements.  Levine Communications won the award this year for ‘Best Arts & Entertainment Campaign of the Year‘ for our campaign for the world-renown rock band KISS‘ newest CD Sonic Boom and ‘Hottest Show on Earth’ tour‘.

LCO was recently written up in an online article with Entrepreneur.com, regarding the firm’s success and recent acceptance of the Bulldog Award.  Please click here to read the entire article.

LCO loves to share our success with friends and colleagues, as they share their success with us. We thank all of those involved in and around LCO for their support and kind words, please note this letter we received from Thomas V. Girardi of Girardi and Keese Lawyers:

Levine Communications Office prides itself on producing results through passion and focus.

KISS Concert Update

The KISS “Hottest Show on Earth” tour is well underway. With upcoming shows in New York and Pennsylvania the band is staying busy. In a recent show at the Indiana State Fair, KISS blew fans away with explosive displays and post-concert fireworks. The KISS tour schedule includes multiple appearances at state fairs, a less-than-traditional venue for the rock band. Check out KISS performing their hit song Beth in Indiana here.

The KISS tour continues August 13^th with a show in Buffalo, New York at the Darien Lakes Performing Arts Center followed by two other New York tour dates; August 14^th at the Nikon at Jones Beach and August 17^th at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The band will also be in Pennsylvania at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton on August 15^th.

For tickets and more information about the KISS “Hottest Show on Earth” visit the KISS website here.