Damien Fanelli | Guitar World
On December 23, former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick performed the National Anthem at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The occasion? A super-exciting matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Clippers.
Kulick joined Kiss in 1984 and stuck around for 12 years—from the Animalize tour through the band’s 1996 reunion tour. Let us not forget, he’s also the axman behind Michael Bolton’s 1985 album, Everybody’s Crazy.
“Kiss is one of those bands the whole world knows, and usually, people that aren’t really a fan will only think of makeup as Kiss, because that’s what, of course, made them famous and they’ve been back in that for so many years,” Kulick told California Rock News. “But a real fan knows there’s a whole wealth of material—over a decade of years that are non-makeup, which is… I kind of wave the flag for all of that.
“If you, for example, didn’t know there was a makeup Kiss, and there wouldn’t have been a version for me to join if it wasn’t for the makeup Kiss, but the truth is… When I was in the band, we kept it going, we had hits, we had gold, platinum records, toured the world—arenas, the whole thing… But I find, even with them continuing, and they turn on new generations of fans. So they… For instance, they were in Japan not that long ago, and now they’re going to South America, and now I’m seeing a lot of people following me on Twitter and Facebook [from] South America.
Goldmine Magazines‘s January 2017 issue is a special KISS issue with a rare concert photo of Gene Simmons on the cover. The issue includes an interview with Gene Simmons and a detailed diary of experiencing rock ‘n’ roll life on the successful Kiss Kruise (by KISS author Ken Sharp, with plenty of experiences from fans on the cruise). The January issue is on sale now until January 9 at select record shops and Barnes & Noble stores.
KISS rocker Paul Stanley has paid tribute to late Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher. The actress died earlier this week at the age of 60 due to complications of heart failure and Stanley hit Twitter noting that she will be sorely missed.