Paul Stanley wanted KISS to reach the level of greatness that Led Zeppelin achieved.
“I wouldn’t be here without them,” the rocker shared at the ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ world premiere when asked about the band’s influence on his music and career. “I wouldn’t be who I am without them.”
He added, “I first saw Zeppelin in ’69 and it kind of showed me how great something can be and whether or not you can reach that, it’s like sports or anything else. When you see greatness, it inspires you.”
.@kiss co-founder @PaulStanleyLive shared what @ledzeppelin has meant to his career at the #BecomingLedZeppelin World Premiere pic.twitter.com/3I6h7bOmXN
— Sony Pictures Classics (@sonyclassics) February 4, 2025
Stanley previously recalled seeing Zeppelin live, saying, “I saw Led Zeppelin play when I was a wee one. I saw them play for under 2000 people, probably in ’68 or so in The New York State Pavilion, which was at the World’s Fair in New York. It’s as close to a religious experience. I would count on one hand.”
“This amazing spiritual marriage of sexuality and music. They were the embodiment at their height of everything that’s the essence of Rock and Roll. You can call it heavy metal or anything you want to call it. But, the basis of it was Robert Johnson through Elvis played through a big Marshall amplifier. It was pretty incredible,” the singer added.
He also reflected on a few key moments that shaped him, saying, “There were a few moments that I remember as turning points, defining moments. Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan was one of them. Seeing Led Zeppelin at that show was clarifying for me, it was ‘I will never be that good,’ but that is what I want to strive for.”
Stanley is a huge admirer of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. He said in 2023, “Jimmy Page, to me, is the consummate guitarist. He’s Beethoven. He paints with music in a way that’s just so stellar. And I know there’s a lot of British guitar players that we talk about where people say, ‘Who is better, this guy, or that guy?'”
“Well, I’ll tell you this – there’s only been one of those players who has been able to spread and work outside of the idea of what he was initially defined as, and that’s Jimmy,” he concluded.
The documentary ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin,’ which chronicles the band’s rise, will hit theaters in 2025, per Variety. Sony Pictures Classics, which acquired the film earlier this year, released it in Imax on February 7, following early screenings in 18 markets on February 5.
