Bruce Kulick


Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist, musician and since 2000 a member of the band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss. He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 19972002 and Blackjack from 19791980.
Kulick has also released several solo albums, in addition to session work with various artists. He is the younger brother of the late guitarist Bob Kulick.

Early life and family

Kulick is Jewish and also went to Hebrew school.
Kulick's brother was session guitarist/producer Bob Kulick, whose performance credits include W.A.S.P., Meat Loaf's touring band, and Kiss.

Career

Early projects

In a 2004 feature interview with Paul Stanley, Kulick discussed his very first recorded project from 1974, a band called KKB. It featured performances by his childhood friends Mike Katz and Guy Bois and he likened its sound to that of Cream. Kulick found the master tape from those sessions in 2008 and issued it via limited edition CD, available during his appearances at Kiss expos and via his website. In a follow-up interview with Paul Stanley, Kulick also discussed his lifelong love of Star Wars and its historical similarities to Kiss.
In the late 1970s, following the release of Meat Loaf's first album Bat Out of Hell, Kulick played rhythm guitar/lead guitar on tour with Meat Loaf's band alongside his brother Bob on lead guitar/rhythm guitar.

Blackjack

Kulick was a member of the band Blackjack, with Michael Bolton, during the band's short existence from 1979 to 1980. He also played on several Bolton solo albums..
"Stay", a Blackjack song co-written by Kulick and Bolton, was sampled by rapper Jay-Z for the song "A Dream" off his 2002 album which reached #1 on the Billboard charts.

The Good Rats

Kulick joined the Long Island-based band the Good Rats in 1981.

Kiss (1984–1996)

Kulick joined the rock band Kiss in September 1984 as the lead guitarist, replacing Mark St. John, who left the band after being diagnosed with reactive arthritis. Kulick never wore onstage makeup, since the band had stopped wearing it in 1983. Kulick and St. John are the only two members of Kiss never to have worn makeup in the band. He stayed with Kiss until 1996.
Kulick played on five Kiss studio albums: Asylum, Crazy Nights, Hot in the Shade, Revenge and ' ; he also appeared on Alive III and KISS Unplugged. The song "I Walk Alone", from ', is the only Kiss track to feature Kulick as lead vocalist. To this day, Kulick is featured on more than twenty Kiss releases.
When the original members of the band regrouped, starting in 1995 with the MTV Unplugged special that carried over into re-adopting their make-up and costuming for the Alive/Worldwide Tour in 1996, Kulick and Eric Singer were paid weekly during the tour; while "sidelined" from Kiss, both were allowed to do other projects so long as Simmons and Stanley okayed them. Kulick officially left Kiss in December 1996. Kulick was with the band longer than any member aside from the original foursome and drummer Eric Singer. When Ace Frehley again left Kiss, Kulick was not asked to rejoin, as Simmons and Stanley thought that Tommy Thayer could capture/copy Frehley's persona better than Kulick; however, Kulick continued to work with Kiss after his departure, contributing work to the Psycho Circus album.

Union

Soon after leaving Kiss, Kulick formed the band Union with John Corabi, Brent Fitz, and Jamie Hunting in 1996. Corabi and Kulick wrote what would become the first album, the self-titled Union, which was released in 1998. They proceeded with a nationwide acoustic tour to promote the album, featuring just Corabi and Kulick. Soon the full band went on a world tour headlining small venues in support of the album. Their second album 1999's Live in the Galaxy, was a live recording with two acoustic tracks recorded in a mobile studio. The third Union album was The Blue Room.

Grand Funk Railroad

Kulick is the lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, with whom he has been playing since 2000.

Solo work

Kulick has released three solo albums: Audiodog in 2001, Transformer in 2003, and most recently BK3, which was released on February 2, 2010.

Other work

Kulick contributed to the 1998 album Pissed to the Gills, released by the Canadian rock band Syre.
Kulick earned a writing credit on the song "Never Let Me Down" on the 2004 Kanye West album, The College Dropout.
Kulick has also appeared on all album releases by Eric Singer's solo project ESP : Lost and Spaced, ESP, and Eric Singer Project: Live in Tokyo. Kulick also appeared on the DVD Eric Singer Project: Live at the Marquee, which was filmed live in Australia.
Kulick appears on the Lordi March 2006 album The Arockalypse, playing lead guitar on the song "It Snows in Hell".
Kulick appears on Paul Stanley's 2006 album Live to Win, playing bass.
Kulick cut a guest guitar solo for the track "The Edge of the Razor" by Swedish metal group Lion's Share.

Other appearances

Kulick is one of 23 rock musicians quoted in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.

Discography

with Mike Katz, Guy Bois