KISS's PAUL STANLEY Says He 'Misspoke' When He Called 'Destroyer' Producer BOB EZRIN A 'Functioning Addict'

July 3, 2021

Paul Stanley says that he "misspoke" when he said Bob Ezrin was a "functioning addict" during the making of KISS's "Destroyer" album.

The KISS guitarist/vocalist made the disparaging remark in the new A&E documentary "Biography: KISStory", which chronicles the band's five decades in the business and features archival and, in some cases, previously unreleased footage, along with extensive new interviews with Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons and commentary from other bandmembers, producers and admirers.

On Friday (July 2),Stanley took to his Twitter to write: "Words Hurt. In our documentary I spoke of my dear friend Bob Ezrin as a 'functioning addict' while we made Destroyer. The impact of that word was lost on me. Although not intended, the hurt & stigma attached is far reaching. That statement was inaccurate, not true and I misspoke."

Ezrin produced three KISS albums — "Destroyer" (1976),"Music From 'The Elder'" (1981) and "Revenge" (1992) — and helped the band craft its commercial breakthrough. Although "Alive!" was KISS's first gold record, "Destroyer" was its first to sell a million copies in less than a year. It's since been certified double-platinum.

In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Stanley stated about the "Destroyer" recording experience: "It really was a glorious, exciting time, because Bob was the camp counselor, the camp director. He wore a whistle around his neck and called us campers. You have to understand that at this point we saw ourselves very much as 'rock stars' and didn't take crap from anybody. But we buttoned our lips and bit our tongues with Bob. He was the voice of experience, and clearly knew more than we did. So it was boot camp of sorts."

Paul went on to say that he looked at Ezrin "as a mentor, and he really raised the bar for us in terms of lyrics. Up until then, quite honestly, and putting this as simply as possible, we were writing 'fuck me, suck me' songs," he explained. "Bob wanted none of that. He wanted more of an experience of the psyche, and the mentality of youth and what we were about, as opposed to the physicality of it. He would nix lyrics, and send us back."

The four-hour "KISStory" premiered late last month. It includes comments by musicians Dave Grohl and Tom Morello, manager Doc McGhee, Ezrin and others. Stanley recently said that original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss's sound bites during the documentary come from archival interviews because both wanted to be paid and have "final editing rights" in order to be part of the project. In addition, Criss would not grant permission for the documentary makers to use the song "Beth" — which he co-wrote — in the film.

Find more on Kiss
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).