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Paul Stanley announced the death of his 101-year-old father, William Eisen, over social media platforms. Although the Kiss co-founder admitted in his 2014 autobiography Face The Music: A Life Exposed, his relationship with both his parents was strained throughout his childhood and adolescent years, as an adult the pair bonded and became close with the birth of Paul’s own children.

Paul Stanley posted about his father’s death:

My dad William Eisen has left this earth after 101 years & 7 months. His thirst for knowledge never wained (sic). He could speak on virtually any subject. His pride in my accomplishments was heartwarming as was seeing his love of my family. He said he’d always be with me and he will.

Original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley posted his own tribute to Paul’s father writing, “Wanted to express my deepest sympathy & condolences to Paul & His Family & Friends for the passing of his Father, William, who I had many conversations with over the years! He’ll be greatly missed by everyone who knew him! R.I.P. William Eisen and God Bless!”

In Face The Music, Paul Stanley talked frankly about his early struggles with hearing — he was born with Level 3 Microtia and is deaf in his right ear. Microtia is a congenital deformity of the cartilage of the outer ear that can affect normal hearing.

Paul, who grew up half-deaf and scarred with a deformed right ear, eventually had reconstructive surgery in 1982 to create an ear using a piece of his rib cage. We asked him why he kept his ear a secret for so long: “Oh, it was painful. It was too painful. Y’know, you can only reveal things and you can only deal with things when you’re ready to. And my experiences as a child were so debilitating and destructive, that the best way for me to deal with my ear was to cover it and to — at least on the surface — ignore what was going on; although when something is invisible to others doesn’t mean it’s not visible and very much a part of your life.”