KKB - 1974 (2008)

Bruce Kulick has been playing professionally since 1975. He first gained notoriety as a member of the touring band for Meat Loaf's classic Bat Out Of Hell album in 1977, playing dual guitars with his brother Bob. Shortly after, Bruce formed the band Blackjack with then aspiring singer Michael Bolton. After the release of two albums, Blackjack folded. Over the next few years, Kulick played with The Good Rats, including appearing on the album Great American Music and opening for Ozzy Osbourne. When his stint with The Good Rats was over, Kulick considered joining Billy Squier's band after playing on Squier's debut, Tale of the Tape.

This never materialized, as Bruce was asked to join KISS, where he remained as their lead guitarist for twelve years, joining the band for the Animalize tour in 1984 and continuing with the band until the 1996 Reunion Tour. Bruce performed around the world with the KISS, won many Platinum and Gold awards, and is heavily featured on KISSOLOGY II and III, the band's DVDs spanning their historic 35 year career. The amazing relationship he still has with the KISS Army is a true testament to his performing and writing abilities shared with the iconic group.

After leaving KISS, Bruce continued his musical development by forming UNION with John Corabi in 1997. UNION released three albums between 1998 and 2000 before going on hiatus to pursue other endeavors. Bruce and John teamed up with Eric Singer and formed the Eric Singer Project (E.S.P.), releasing an album in 1998. Bruce also maintained his connection to KISS, contributing to their Psycho Circus album, the Detroit Rock City soundtrack, and both of the solo efforts from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

In early 2001 Bruce released his debut solo album, Audio Dog, which was followed in 2003 by Transformer. Both albums showcase many different sides of Bruce as a performer, with a great mixture of instrumentals and vocal tracks. Another facet of Bruce's playing was revealed in 2001 when he joined Grand Funk Railroad as lead guitarist after receiving a personal invitation from drummer Don Brewer. Bruce is still touring with GFR, and is currently in his 16th year as their lead guitarist.

Through the years Bruce has been involved with session work, producing new artists, instructional DVDs, and music compositions. Bruce's session work with Finland's LORDI won him platinum awards in Europe, and in 2004 rap superstar Kanye West covered a song from Bruce's Blackjack days with Michael Bolton on West's debut multi-platinum disc, The College Dropout. Bruce is also heavily involved with the "Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp," and enjoys jamming and sharing his experience with campers as a counselor. Jamming with rock legends like Jack Bruce and Roger Daltrey who appear at the camps are also experiences that make Bruce proud.

Bruce Kulick 1992In February of 2010 Bruce released his third solo album, BK3. Kulick invited several guest artists to appear on BK3, including Gene Simmons of KISS on the anthemic "Ain't Gonna Die," the late Doug Fieger (The Knack) on "Dirty Girl," Nick Simmons (son of Gene) on "Hand of the King," former UNION cohort John Corabi on the moody "No Friend Of Mine," Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia) and Eric Singer (KISS) on the fierce "I'm The Animal," and guitar legend Steve Lukather (Toto) on the exciting instrumental "Between The Lines."

"Great to hear one of the unsung heroes of KISS stepping out with a bold musical statement of his own," says Eddie Trunk of VH1's "That Metal Show," while Classic Rock magazine called BK3 "quite a force" and "a well-crafted effort that shows Kulick living up to his full potential as a solo artist." The magazine also named Kulick one of their "Top six to watch for in 2010," and BK3 one of the Top 50 albums of 2010.

Currently, Bruce is continuing his work in Grand Funk Railroad as the lead guitarist, and keeps busy between GFR shows with many other music projects, including traveling outside of the US to perform. But his passion of playing lead guitar in Grand Funk is quite rewarding for Bruce, as the band was an influence for him when they hit the music scene. Bruce has said many times, "On stage with Grand Funk Railroad is like taking a fantastic journey of rock, funk, and blues, all filled with classic moments of why I love to play guitar. There's no better rhythm section than Don Brewer and Mel Schacher to lay down the groove for my riffs."