During a Q&A session on at the Spooky Empire convention, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick shared his disappointment with his former bandmates, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
The guitarist confirmed once again that he was not invited to perform or attend the band’s final show and that the band ‘missed out on an opportunity.’ “They missed a great opportunity to mention Ace [Frehley], to mention Peter [Criss], to mention, of course, Eric Carr, myself, even Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John,” he explained.
“And I can never allow myself to understand that, that there was any good reason to ignore that. And I don’t need my name mentioned that night, ’cause I know everybody there knows ‘Kisstory’. But this is your final show. Celebrate ‘Kisstory’ — all the 50 years. The fans knew it. They thought about the future, [how KISS will continue as] the avatars. I get that, ’cause that’s, like, ‘Now we are immortal,’” the guitarist added.
While Kulick was not invited to perform with the band for their last show, he was asked to come with the band for their induction in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. “When they got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Gene and Paul asked me to come. They flew me first class and I was part of the entourage. I was there for them and of course, I didn’t get an award that night,” he revealed during another interview. “I sat at the table with the family, Tommy and Eric, supporting them as they were being honored.”
“Tom Morello so kindly mentioned every band member during his speech inducting Kiss. We all know that went down awkwardly, because the Hall of Fame only wanted to induct the original four, right or wrong. It’s wrong, but that’s what they wanted to do. But I was there. Kisstory was represented at the Hall of Fame. Kisstory was not represented for the final show,” he added.
In many different interviews, the rocker shared that he wasn’t disappointed that he wasn’t called to the final show. Although he left the band in 1996, Kulick performed with his KISS bandmates at several shows over the years.