‘He Never Gave Me Credit’: Ace Frehley Reveals How He Helped Paul Stanley Come Up With His Kiss Makeup

“Very few people know this, and he’ll probably deny it.”

Ever wonder if the original Kiss members came up with their own make-up designs of the demon, starchild, spaceman, and cat? It seems like for the most part, each member, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, did.

But during an interview with the Guitar Tales Podcast, Frehley unveiled an interesting tidbit: he may have helped Stanley with his design. Which would have taken place while the band was still playing clubs in the New York metro area.

“Very few people know this, and he’ll probably deny it, but when we were playing the Daisy in Long Island, it was a club where we developed our makeup, he was he had white face on with the red lipstick, and he used to have a circle around his eye like the dog from ‘The Little Rascals’,” said Frehley (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar).

“And I had developed the silver stars, which I was really happy with. And Gene’s makeup was coming along great. Peter needed a little help. But I said to Paul one night, ‘Instead of the circle, why don’t you put a star?'”

“And he tried it out, and he liked it, but he never gave me credit. I’ve never heard him mention that story in an interview, and he’d probably deny it if somebody brought it up to him today. He has an ego the size of [Manhattan].”

Also during the same chat, Frehley made a point concerning if Simmons and Stanley are truly happy. Or, if it’s a cover-up.

“Those guys don’t seem really happy to me. Go on the internet and see how many pictures you can find or videos of Paul Stanley cracking up. There isn’t a lot, but there’s dozens of me.”

“I try to hang out and do the things that make me happy. My father always said to me, ‘Look, if you don’t have something good to say about somebody, don’t say anything.’ Whereas Paul and Gene are constantly… not only hitting on me and Peter, but even other guys in other bands. And it’s unnecessary.”