Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

KISS’s Jewish Mother Passes Away

Not many refugees from Nazi Germany get memorialized on sites like UltimateClassicRock.com. But Eva Eisen, who passed away recently at 88, was the mother of Paul Stanley, vocalist and founding member of rock behemoth KISS.

In a statement on his web site, Stanley credited his mother for his love of music. “My mother found so much pleasure and fulfillment in all the various types of music that she loved so. It was through her that I, too, found that same passion. She lived long enough to see, enjoy and love an extended family that included her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She found numerous ways to contribute to her community and was appreciated and loved by those who knew her. My mom was the matriarch of our family and words cannot express our loss.”

According a Newsday obituary, Eisen was born in Berlin in 1923. Fleeing the Nazi uprising, she lived in Amsterdam before moving to New York City in 1939. Eisen met her husband, William Eisen, and settled in Port Washington, NY; she was a longtime member at the Port Jewish Center, where she also served as office manager.

KISS bandmates — including Chaim Witz, aka Gene Simmons — posted their own statement. “From the earliest days of Kiss until recently, Eva was always seen by fans at New York-area shows. We send our deepest sympathies to Paul and his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

And former KISS star Ace Frehley sent his own condolences online. “I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Paul Stanley’s mother Eva. She always had a smile on her face at the Kiss shows she attended in New York and was always very gracious to me and my family when we’d meet backstage before and after concerts… My deepest sympathy goes out to Paul and his family. God bless.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.