While Michael Bolton’s mighty ballads don’t sound like Kiss songs, Bolton co-wrote a colossal hit for Kiss with Paul Stanley. Stanley revealed that someone from the Kiss record label wanted him to change the song significantly, but Stanley held on. Subsequently, the song became one of the greatest hits of the classic rock band’s career.

Paul Stanley felt he didn’t have enough credit for the song Kiss he wrote with Michael Bolton

In the 1980s and early 1990s rock power ballads were all the rage. Songs like “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison, “What About Love” by Heart and “Poison” by Alice Cooper defined the era. Kiss has had its own success in this vein. This ballad was co-written by Bolton, one of the most famous ballads of the late 20th century.

In his book Facing music: a life on display, Stanley said he worked on a song with Bolton during a writing session at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood. Stanley was upset when people mistakenly believed that Bolton wrote the song himself.

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Someone wanted Paul Stanley to change part of the song

The song in question was called “Forever”. “When our record company first heard ‘Forever’, it was the first time in a decade that an A&R man from our label had given his opinion on one of our songs,” recalls Stanley. . “He made me sit in his office and told me I had to re-edit it so it would fade into the chorus.” It was the arrangement of song 101, and while it could be effective in some cases, it wasn’t fair for this song – the ending was one of the qualities that made ‘Forever’ unique.

Stanley did not give much importance to the opinion of the representative of A&R. “This office expert pushed his opinion relentlessly, and with a tone that made it sound more like a directive than a suggestion,” Stanley recalled. ” I had enough of it. “I did this when you were in elementary school,” I told him. “I was at this label before you were here, and I’ll be there after you leave. So thank you, but no thank you. It was the end of the meeting.

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The way the world reacted to Kiss ‘Forever’

Regardless of what the A&R man thought, “Forever” became a huge hit for Kiss. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining on the chart for 17 weeks. It was Kiss’s first top 10 hit since the band released “Beth” and “Detroit Rock City” on double A in 1976. The parent album of “Forever”, Warm in the shade, also became a success. The album peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the charts for 36 weeks.

According to Facing the music: a life unmasked, “Forever” also had an impact on Bolton. He began to perform it at his concerts after it became a success. “Forever” was very popular and it might not have worked if Stanley had changed it.