Bruce Kulick Opens Up About Not Being Invited To KISS Final Concert
via Artists On Record Starring ADIKA LIVE! / Youtube
In a recent interview with Artists On Record Starring ADIKA Live!, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick once again confirmed that he wasn’t asked to be at the band’s final show last month and “wasn’t invited” to attend the event at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
“When the interviews started regarding the final 50 shows [of KISS’s ‘End Of The Road’ farewell tour], [KISS’s longtime manager Doc McGhee] was very clear when asked point blank by a podcaster, ‘What about Bruce Kulick? Do you think he could come up and play with the band on the final show?'” Kulick recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, KISS doesn’t jam. It’s not a jam band.’ That’s outrageous because I wouldn’t jam with them. Of course, I’d know the song and we’d know what we’re doing, and I’ve done it on the cruise [Kiss Kruise] three times. That’s not what he means. He means they don’t want anybody else up on stage with them.”
“Now I get the optics of me getting up on stage when they’re seven feet tall in their outfits, and I get that, but I wasn’t asking for that,” Bruce continued. “I wasn’t looking to play with them on the final show, but it was asked to Doc. And then he turns it into, ‘Well, KISS doesn’t jam.'”
Kulick went on to express disappointment in how the final KISS show was presented compared to the band’s approach to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in 2014.
“Let’s be clear that the narrative from the Hall Of Fame, right or wrong, and they did it to other bands, and of course, they broke that rule with other bands too, where they allowed everybody [who was in the band to be inducted], but they clearly were not gonna do [that with KISS],” Bruce said. “They didn’t even want KISS in the Hall Of Fame. So I remember Paul being very vocal, and I actually thanked him for being that way about all the eras not being represented by the Hall Of Fame.”
Kulick pointed out the lack of acknowledgment for various band eras during the final show, saying, “That was their choice. They’re this machine that was out there doing the ‘End Of The Road’ tour. The last night was a big, big setup for their future. But the missed opportunity was not honoring and respecting Kisstory. And all I would have hoped for — and I’m hearing this from fans; this isn’t, ‘Oh, Bruce was in the band for 12 years.’ This is from fans. Why they couldn’t say or show a video montage featuring all those great eras of the band. How do you do an event like that and not mention Eric Carr or represent him? How do you not mention [original KISS members] Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss]? That’s even bigger.”
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Regarding his absence, Kulick stated, “I wasn’t invited. I wasn’t gonna crash that party. I wasn’t gonna go to the Garden. People invited me to, and they wanted to pay me to be at some events that were going on around the Garden final show. I don’t wanna be there like that. I mean, it’s nice to get paid for an autograph signing and to be part of… And then everybody was, like, ‘You’re going to the Garden?’ Well, I wasn’t invited. I’m not gonna crash a party. I wasn’t invited.”
He emphasized the missed opportunity by the band, saying, “That did not happen. And sadly, I really feel that it was a missed opportunity by the band. But that was their choice.”
Reflecting on his KISS journey
Kulick stated, “I have nothing to be ashamed of in my 12 years. I’m very proud of it.”
In 1984, Bruce joined KISS, remaining their lead guitarist for twelve years, participating in the “Animalize” tour and continuing with the band until the 1996 reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on “Kissology – Vol. 2” and “Vol. 3,” the band’s DVDs spanning their historic 45-year career.
In an April 2020 interview with Sleaze Roxx, Kulick expressed relief at not being approached to rejoin the band after Frehley left for good in 2001, stating, “I was genuinely happy for [Eric Singer]. I still am.”
Kulick concluded by saying he is at peace with not being part of the makeup era of KISS. “I was relieved [when they didn’t ask me to step in after Ace left],” he said. “I think if I had been asked and done it, I think it would hurt.”
