Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick has revealed how Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley reacted to his public comments about the band’s farewell show. He shared the details in a recent interview on Beardo and Weirdo.
Kulick discussed the KISS Farewell show. Many fans expected the band to invite former members to say goodbye with them, but that didn’t happen. Kulick also explained how Gene and Paul responded after he publicly called the show a missed opportunity.
The host asked Kulick about the final two nights at Madison Square Garden. He said Kulick had carefully suggested the show should have been handled differently. Many KISS fans felt the same way. He also said Kulick spoke out fairly and without harsh language.
Kulick explained his position.
“I mean, to me, I just called it a missed opportunity. You know what I mean?” Kulick said. “And you know, of course, this show is incredible, no matter, you know, if they want to make it a special show, which they outside of the Avatar thing at the ending, which was still, it was great to hear.”
He then described the reaction he received from the band’s founders.
“But I had to say it was a missed opportunity,” Kulick said. “And thank God I didn’t really get a phone call or angry email from Gene and Paul.”
Kulick added that he keeps open communication with them. He also described a clickbait article that distorted his words.
“And I’m real transparent with them,” he continued. “I remember some clickbait that came up not that long ago that they totally turned it upside down. You know how popular that is. These people are terrible. You know, they do with AI. They make your face look like you’re going to kill somebody.”
“And I actually, you know, I wrote Paul and I just said, ‘Look, if you see this article, it’s not what I said cuz they’re just trying to make controversy.’ And he appreciated it. And of course, how much clickbait has he seen, you know.”
Kulick also spoke about where Simmons and Stanley stand today.
“And really to me, you know, Gene and Paul are very comfortable as to where they are now, even though they’re not, you know, running that huge machine because they they sold it,” he said. “Yet they’re still, you know, everywhere they go, they’re still KISS, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s KISS.”
He closed by reflecting on his own relationship with the band.
“But I really do like that I can just be, you know, I can be myself and explain it and I have that good relationship with them.”
Kulick made his remarks about the farewell show after fans reacted to the final performances. His comments make more sense against the events that led to this moment.
The final End of the Road show took place on December 2, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in New York. It closed the band’s farewell tour. The night did not end with the band’s goodbye, though. KISS used the encore to introduce a “new era” in avatar form. Industrial Light & Magic and Pophouse Entertainment created the digital versions of the band.
Kulick’s criticism first surfaced shortly after that show. He said he was neither invited nor asked to be at the final-ever concert. He felt the band “didn’t mention the important people in their history.”
That view matches what many fans expected from the night. It also explains why his “missed opportunity” label drew attention.
The business side of the band also changed soon after the farewell. In April 2024, KISS sold its catalog, brand name and intellectual property to Pophouse Entertainment Group. The deal was estimated at more than $300 million. That sale supports Kulick’s point that Simmons and Stanley no longer run the “huge machine” they built. They remain the public face of KISS, though.
Further updates may follow.
