 |
Real Name: Bruce Kulick Birthday: December 12, 1953 Married: Divorced, no children |
Bruce Kulick was a member of the bands The Good Rats and Blackjack (which featured the pre-adult contemporary Michael Bolton, who was then known as Michael Bloton.) His brother, Bob Kulick, had auditioned for KISS back in 1973, but was passed over in favor of Ace Frehley. He was friends with Paul Stanley and remained close to the band throughout their career. He was a session player and worked with the band on the studio sessions for Alive II, when Ace was unable to record his parts.
When KISS needed a temporary replacement for Mark St. John for the 1984 Animalize tour, Bob suggested his brother Bruce, who'd been doing session work at the time. Paul agreed and he was in, if only temporarily.
As Mark watched from the side of the stage, Bruce played most of the tour. (Mark only played with KISS twice.) For whatever reason, the situation with Mark made his position a permanent one in short order. (Early Animalize tour programs featured pictures of Mark St. John, even though Bruce played on-stage. Later versions of the program were updated, although one picture of Mark's hand, playing a guitar, was left in by mistake.)
Bruce recorded with the band for the first time on Asylum in 1985. He contributed songwriting for the album too, sharing credits on three songs. (Gene's role in the band was becoming secondary to his Hollywood career at this point.) He continued writing for the band until the last album he would record with KISS, Carnival of Souls. That album featured his vocal debut on "I Walk Alone."
As the reunion tour got underway in 1996, Bruce was initially given a paid vacation as Ace Frehley rejoined the band. Bruce began a series of guitar clinic shows in Europe. When the success of the tour became assured, Bruce and Eric Singer decided to leave the band.
On August 15, 1996, they released a joint press release to Metal Edge magazine that expressed their gratitude for the fan support they've received while they were out of the spotlight. Now, they're hungry to get back to playing music.
Immediately after leaving KISS, Bruce began touring Europe supporting Lenita Erickson. They reportedly performed "Hard Luck Woman" at some shows. Following that, Bruce continued to do guitar clinics, including a trip to Australia with Eric Singer dubbed the Unholy Down Under clinic tour.
In early 1997, Bruce announced that he would be forming a band with ex-Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi. Corabi and Kulick continued to work on material into the summer of 1997. In early 1998, the band, called Union, released its first album and began a tour. Bruce remains highly enthusiastic about the future and even opened his own Internet website (Bruce Kulick's Virtual Studio).