Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick recently opened up about the heart valve surgery he underwent in April. He detailed how a routine physical exam years ago first revealed a condition he didn’t fully understand — despite living a healthy lifestyle.
Kulick explained how a heart murmur detected during a checkup eventually led to a diagnosis of a bicuspid valve. The condition quietly progressed over the years until it reached a critical stage requiring open-heart surgery.
“I always believed in every year I got a physical, especially by the time I was, like, 40 or 50, [to] just see my doctor. And it was my primary back in California about 12 years ago, and he’s listening to my heart and he goes, like, ‘You have a murmur.’ And I go, like, ‘Okay. I don’t know what it means.’ And not every murmur means you need surgery, everybody out there,” Kulick said.
“But it could also mean there is definitely something unusual with your heart, and you should get it checked out. So then I’m at a cardiologist in L.A… And he was, like, ‘Okay, you have…’ They did whatever test it was back then, I don’t remember, ultrasound, this or that, ‘You have a bicuspid valve.’ And to be quite honest, back then, all right, it was a name, but I didn’t really understand the mechanics of what that meant.”
He went on to describe how the condition was monitored over the years with no dramatic changes — until a December 2025 appointment changed everything.
“But I knew it was something… They said, ‘We need to keep an eye on this, ’cause later in life you’re gonna need to do something.’ That’s all I knew. And every year I’d go, I didn’t feel that different from year to year, basically. Except you get a little older. And every year it was, like, not much of a change. ‘Okay, see you in six months for this next test,’ or a year,” he continued.
“And then finally I did the tests in November of ’25, and when I saw the cardiologist in December, he said, ‘Okay, now you’re severe aortic stenosis from your bicuspid valve.’ And again, I didn’t feel that different, so I was kind of like staring at the floor. And he’s explaining everything to my wife, Lisa, who came with me. And he says, ‘Now it’s much more common. Not to wait. You’re 72. You wanna consider repairing this while your baseline is strong,’ meaning, for the people listening, that you’re generally healthy, so you can handle [it], instead of being in some bad way.”
Kulick then described how the possibility of a less invasive procedure was ultimately ruled out in favor of open-heart surgery.
“So at that point, he said, ‘Well, we need to do a few more tests to see. Maybe we can do the TAVR [Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement]. We’ll see. Not sure.’ Now, I was always told about the TAVR, which is a less invasive repair. Although, as soon as I started to do the research in early January, I was realizing, ‘I’m gonna wind up with open-heart surgery.’ I mean, he never took that off the table, but those other tests were gonna tell — the CT scan and then, of course, an angiogram. But he knew from the CT scan that I needed open-heart surgery, that trying to put a valve in through a vein, [which is] less invasive, of course, it wouldn’t be a great fit and I wouldn’t get great results.”
He also addressed the public’s surprise at the news, clarifying that the condition was a birth defect — not the result of an unhealthy lifestyle.
“A lot of people were really surprised. ‘Why does Bruce need open-heart surgery? He looks like a healthy guy. We know he’s not a drinker or smoker.’ And I had to be really clear that this was a birth defect, this was planned,” he said.
“Birth defects are very common. I don’t know where it comes from — three generations above or whatever… Another thing that I was a little surprised, I do know other people that had the same birth defect, but they knew about it way younger, and they had it repaired way younger than me. But it wasn’t suggested to me… I would’ve been, like, 60 when I found out.”
Kulick closed by reflecting on the remarkable outcome of the surgery and his gratitude for modern medicine.
“But no one said, ‘We should get ahead of this and deal with it now.’ I mean, I still am blown away completely with the technology. I know that it keeps getting better, and whatever they did in that operating room in April was a miracle. And for me to come out of it doing as well as I’m doing now is just a testament to medical science. So I’m blessed that I followed it,” he concluded.
Kulick is currently recovering well following the April procedure. His openness about the experience serves as a reminder of the importance of regular health checkups — one that carries added weight given the long and celebrated career he has built in rock music.
Kulick served as KISS’s lead guitarist from 1984 to 1996. His twelve-year tenure made him one of the longest-serving members in the band’s history. During that period, he contributed to some of the band’s most commercially successful albums, including Crazy Nights, and was a central figure in KISS’s massive 1990s comeback. His time with the band came without the iconic face paint worn by the original lineup. He nonetheless earned deep respect from fans and peers alike for his technical skill and consistency on stage and in the studio.
The public reaction to his surgery announcement reflected how closely fans associate him with the image of a disciplined, health-conscious musician. The fact that his condition stemmed from a birth defect rather than lifestyle choices caught many off guard — but it is a reality that affects a significant portion of the population without warning.
A bicuspid aortic valve is the most common congenital heart defect, affecting approximately one to two percent of the general population. It is present from birth and often goes undetected for decades. Many individuals remain entirely asymptomatic well into adulthood, only discovering the defect when the valve begins to narrow or leak — sometimes not until their 50s, 60s, or even later.
When the condition progresses, it can develop into aortic stenosis — a narrowing of the valve opening that restricts blood flow from the heart. Severe aortic stenosis, the stage Kulick reached by late 2025, is considered a serious and potentially life-threatening condition if left untreated. Surgical intervention at that stage is typically recommended before the patient’s overall health begins to decline. That is precisely the reasoning Kulick’s cardiologist outlined during their December appointment.
The TAVR procedure Kulick initially hoped to qualify for is a catheter-based technique that has become increasingly common for older patients or those considered high-risk for traditional surgery. Not every patient is an anatomical candidate for it. In cases involving a bicuspid valve, the irregular shape of the valve can make TAVR less effective. Open-heart surgery, while more demanding on the body, often delivers more durable and precise results in such cases — a reality Kulick came to terms with as he researched his options in early 2026.
He shared the full story in an interview with Rock From The Heart.
