KISS rocker Paul Stanley is opening up about the ways in which his mom and dad’s parenting styles set the groundwork for the rest of his life.

The musician, 73, was a guest on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast on Wednesday, June 11, and said that while he’s “very content and happy” with his “wonderful family” now, it took some time for him to get to that place after a difficult childhood.

“I’ve got a fantastic wife who has been with me when things were rough in the beginning, and that’s really when you get to know who you’re with, is when things are rough. That’s how you find out who somebody is,” he said. “My children are just a blessing. I think just speaking for yourself, you heal by raising children because you get to do right what you think was done wrong to you.”

Stanley married Erin Sutton in 2005, and the pair are parents to son Colin, 18, and daughters Sarah, 16, and Emily, 13. Stanley is also dad to son Evan, 31, from his first marriage to Pamela Bowen.

The star said that while he believes his parents, the late William and Eva Eisen, “did the best they could,” they were not quite ready for all that being a parent entailed.

“They came into the picture completely ill-equipped to be married and to be parents. That being said, they struggled, and that was my struggle — not having real guidance or a system that supported me or made me feel safe,” he said. “I think they were in some ways consumed with their own unhappiness.”

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