From Adele to Kiss’ Paul Stanley: Why Are So Many Award-Winning Singers Undergoing Vocal Cord Surgery?

Chris Connelly and Aude Soichet | ABC News

Even superstar music legends like Paul Stanley of KISS believe it’s never too late to look after your voice. With thousands of performances and over four decades of touring, Stanley said those years of hitting screeching notes and high-octane stage raps can take their toll.

“As soon as you hit the stage, you are a complete idiot,” he said. “People are cheering for you, so you do the impossible and when you don’t have enough time to recuperate afterwards, it just catches up with you. Literally speaking my voice was cracking. It was cracking quite a bit on stage.”

Those years of strain are why the Kiss vocalist had surgery on his vocal cords this year by the noted Dr. Steven Zietels, an otolaryngologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center, who also operated on Adele.

“[Zietels] said my cords actually looked great for somebody who actually worked as much as I did and he did some minor things to mine,” Stanley said. “It sounds way, way, way, way better.”

It’s good news for a nearly 60-year-old recording artist who is working on producing a new Kiss album.

“I lead a pretty good healthy life and I think at some point that really plays into it. That whole cartoon lifestyle that some people think is key to being a rock star is your demise,” Stanley said. “Treat your voice like an instrument. We take pretty good care of our guitars our violins and our pianos but we kind of take our voice for granted. You know, warm it up, warm it down and give it a chance to rest.”