Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick recently opened up about the upcoming KISS Kruise Landlocked event, which will honor the late Ace Frehley. He also revealed why he chose not to join Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley when KISS was honored at the Kennedy Center.
Kulick began by discussing the tribute planned for the KISS Kruise Landlocked event in November, where Ace’s band is expected to serve as the core act while various musicians join in to perform.
“Actually at the event in November you know at the KISS Kruise Landlocked, part of the one of the things that’s going to be there is everybody playing you know and and Gene and Paul and probably I’m presuming right now I’m pretty sure it’s actually Ace’s band that will be the core band but a lot of people are going to come in and play a song,” Kulick said.
He went on to reflect on his personal relationship with Frehley and the mutual respect they shared, along with the recent release of KISS’s Unplugged performance.
“Eric and I were just talking about it recently and I think that’s really great, you know, obviously he’s never going to be forgotten and I’m just really glad, of course, that my relationship was great with him and we both respected each other,” Kulick said. “I got a chance to play with him and you know, just recently Unplugged came out and that was a big a big event for KISS and I’m very excited about that.”
Kulick then recalled a specific moment involving an autograph show and the Kennedy Center Honors, explaining the circumstances that led to his decision.
“And there’ll always be other connections that will come up about Ace and KISS and me and I’m grateful for all that knowing him as well as I did. The texts were always funny and and upbeat and I remember congratulating him for the Kennedy Honors when I heard about it,” Kulick said. “We were both supposed to be at an autograph show. And then the promoter called the day before it was announced, and said, ‘By the way, are you still interested in doing this? Ace can’t. It’s got to be in Washington.’ That’s before I knew I was going to be invited.”
He then explained his reasoning for initially declining to be part of the event without Frehley. He described how the situation ultimately unfolded.
“But to be honest, I said, I don’t want to be there without Ace. I wanted to be there because Ace was going to be there and I knew having the two guitar players would be the win. So, he respected that,” Kulick said. “And then in the end, I wound up, you know, going anyway to Kennedy Honors. And you know, it was really touching what they did. Gene, Paul was the chair and then of course Chris Angel in that guitar that was smoking and you know it was done really right.”
Kulick concluded by sharing his overall impression of attending the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.
“I was really glad to be a part of that. It was kind of funny being part of the you know just seeing the Washington political thing but the event was music,” Kulick said. “And everybody did what they were supposed to do and I love being there and I think it’s my only time in black tie you know quite seriously and that was fun.”
Kulick’s remarks come against the backdrop of a difficult period for the KISS family, following the sudden loss of Frehley last year.
Frehley died on October 16 in Morristown, New Jersey, after his family made the decision to take him off life support following a fall at his home studio. An autopsy later determined that his death resulted from blunt force trauma to the head sustained in the fall. The manner of death was officially ruled accidental.
His passing marked a somber milestone for the band. Frehley became the first of KISS’s four founding members to die, closing a chapter on the group’s original lineup that first took shape in the early 1970s.
The circumstances surrounding his death drew further attention in the weeks that followed. Authorities in New Jersey opened an inquiry and ordered a toxicology analysis to better understand the events leading up to the fall.
Gene Simmons later addressed the tragedy publicly, attributing his former bandmate’s fatal accident to what he described as poor choices tied to substance misuse. The comment added another layer to the ongoing conversations among fans and former bandmates about Frehley’s legacy.
Against this backdrop, the tribute planned for the KISS Kruise Landlocked event carries added weight. Former members and collaborators like Kulick look ahead to honoring Frehley’s contributions to the band he helped found more than five decades ago.
