10/19/2026
Paul Stanley of KISS has a Soul Review Band?
I was "today years old" when found out 74 year-old Paul Stanley (Yes, that Paul Stanley stadium annthem band Kiss!) was a HUGE fan of Soul Music. He sites Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke and Otis Redding as major musical influences since his childhood. When he finally did a solo album that was completely separate from his Kiss Starchild persona, you really got a glimpse at just how much he wanted to explore different styles of music beyond the realms of Kiss’s dominating stadium sound. As recently as 2015, he decided to release an album with a newly put-together band called Paul Stanley’s Soul Station. The record was called "Now and Then" and as you may have guessed, it consisted predominantly of soul music. I just found out about this.
In 2015, took a lot of people by surprise, as the music that Stanley was so connected with was heavily rooted in rock; however, when he was talking about the record, he said that it was music he’d wanted to make for years. He was inspired a great deal by different soul artists, and said that they influenced his singing so much that he wanted to pay homage to the artists. Four singers in particular that he highlighted, whom he adored so much that he opted to perform their soul classics.
“The first music I heard was classical music, then Italian opera, then bluegrass and R&B, and the music that preceded Motown and Philly Soul,” he said.
Adding, “I love Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and as a kid I saw Otis Redding and Solomon Burke. So, all this music is really part of the foundation of what I do and where I wound up, so, for me it’s not strange at all.”
He concluded, “But I can understand somebody who has only been exposed to the majority of what I do in public. I‘ve been singing these songs since they came out. I’ve been singing Smokey Robinson since Smokey was with the Miracles. It’s part of my wheelhouse, it’s my passion, it’s not a lark, and it’s not a vanity project, it’s a passion project.”
Here's a clip of Paul performing The 5 Stairsteps "Ooo Child." Thoughts???
The new official video from Paul Stanley's Soul Station for "O-O-H ...
