by Paul Stanley
A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD TAXI DRIVER READY FOR THE STREETS OF NEW YORK. MUTTON CHOPS OPTIONAL.
A PAGE FROM MY FIRST SONGBOOK, WHICH I JUST FOUND. LYRICS TO ALL MY EARLIEST KISS SONGS ARE IN IT.
ABOVE AND BELOW: TWO FORTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD, NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN SHOTS OF A NEW BAND CALLED KISS.
STUDIO 54. WATCHING IT ALL HAPPEN WITH ANDY WARHOL, ANNIE LENNOX, AND FRANK ZAPPA. A GOLDEN AGE OF EXCESS.
1975. ALL GLARE AND HAIR.
PHOTO: BARRY LEVINE
WORKING OUT TODAY. YOU CAN’T WIN AT ANYTHING YOU DON’T START.
PHOTO: BRIAN LOWE
AT HOME. MY HAT, MY GUITAR, AND MY PAUL STANLEY PUMA SUEDES. STYLIN’!
BACK TO 531 WEST 211 STREET. A BOY LEFT, BUT A MAN RETURNED.
A MAGIC MOMENT WITH SARAH, EMILY, AND COLIN.
ANOTHER AWESOME NIGHT COMES TO AN END.
PHOTO: KEITH LEROUX
JIMMY. AN ICON, A LIFELONG INSPIRATION, AND A LOVELY MAN.
PHOTO: ROSS HALFIN
ROAD WARRIORS READY FOR THE END OF THE ROAD.
PHOTO: BRIAN LOWE
SOUL STATION. SEAN, GAVYN, CRYSTAL, LAURHAN, AND RAFAEL. PART OF THE TRIBE, PREACHING ONSTAGE AND LOVING LIFE.
I WENT FORWARD WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING MY DESTINATION. BUT I KNEW WHEN I GOT THERE, IT WAS HOME.
PHOTO: BRIAN LOWE
About the Author
With his first book, Face the Music, PAUL STANLEY added another accolade to his long and illustrious list of artistic accomplishments: New York Times bestseller. Stanley cofounded the band KISS in New York City in 1973 and has served as its frontman and rhythm guitar player ever since, as well as designing numerous KISS album covers, costumes, and concert sets, and writing many of the band’s biggest songs. KISS has more gold-certified albums than any other American band in history and has sold more than a hundred million records worldwide. Stanley and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. A successful painter, his art commissions and acquisitions exceed $10 million in sales, with pieces often presold to collectors worldwide. Stanley is a solo musician, the leader of the band Soul Station, a founding partner in Rock & Brews restaurants, and an avid supporter of philanthropic causes such as the Wounded Warrior Project. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Erin, and four children.
About the Collaborator
TIM MOHR is the author of Burning Down the Haus, a history of East German punk rock and the role dissident musicians played in bringing down the Berlin Wall. He’s also an award-winning translator of German novels by such authors as Alina Bronsky, Wolfgang Herrndorf, and Charlotte Roche and has collaborated on memoirs by Gil Scott-Heron, Duff McKagan, and Joe Walsh. His own writing has appeared in the New York Times, Inked, and Daily Beast among other publications, and he spent several years as a staff editor at Playboy, where he edited writers including Hunter S. Thompson, John Dean, and George McGovern. Prior to starting his writing career he earned his living as a club DJ in Berlin. He previously collaborated with Stanley on Face the Music.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Paul Stanley
FACE THE MUSIC
Copyright
BACKSTAGE PASS. Copyright © 2019 by Paul Stanley. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design: Charles Brock, Faceout Studio
Cover image: Brian Lowe
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
Digital Edition APRIL 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-282029-7
Version 03182019
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-282028-0
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com