Bruce Kulick

Bruce Howard Kulick (born 12 December 1953) 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 (19841996). 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 was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Queens for a time, graduating from Newtown High School. He is Jewish and also went to Hebrew school.
Kulick's brother, session guitarist/producer Bob Kulick, was influential in his music career. Bob's performance credits include W.A.S.P., Meat Loaf's touring band, and Kiss.
Career.
Early projects.
Bruce’s first band KKB, was formed in 1974. Its other members were his childhood friends Mike Katz and Guy Bois (the other K and B of KKB, respectively) and Kulick 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 an interview from 2008, Kulick also discussed his lifelong love of "Star Wars" and its historical similarities to Kiss.
He first began touring professionally with George McCrae and Andrea True.
Meat Loaf.
In 1977, 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. The success of the year-long tour took the Kulick brothers around the world. In addition to the success of the tour, many famous television appearances were done, such as "Saturday Night Live" and "The Old Grey Whistle Test".
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. (Bolton later co-wrote the Kiss song "Forever", from "Hot in the Shade").
"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, and is on their album, "Great American Music".
Michael Bolton.
In 1983, Bruce was asked to join Michael Bolton as his guitarist for his debut album release tour, after Bolton anglicizing his family name from Bolotin.
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" (1985), "Crazy Nights" (1987), "Hot in the Shade" (1989), "Revenge" (1992) and ' (1997); he also appeared on "Alive III" and "MTV 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. When Ace Frehley again left Kiss (in 2002, after the Kiss Farewell Tour), Kulick was not asked to rejoin, as Simmons and Stanley thought that Tommy Thayer (former Black 'n Blue guitarist and Kiss tour manager) 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 (both on guitar). 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" (2000).
Grand Funk Railroad.
Kulick is the lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, with whom he has been playing since 2000. Kulick had originally met Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer when Brewer was performing with Bob Seger during the 1983 tour with Michael Bolton.
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 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 (Eric Singer Project): "Lost and Spaced" (1998), "ESP" (1999), and "Eric Singer Project: Live in Tokyo" (2006). Kulick also appeared on the DVD "Eric Singer Project: Live at the Marquee" (2006), 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" (featured on the album "Emotional Coma") 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.
Personal life.
Bruce is currently married to Lisa Lane Kulick. They met in 2008, and were married in 2014. They often perform together at events and online. They have no children.