In a new interview with VRP Rocks, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick shared his thoughts on the late drummer Eric Carr. He mentioned that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley didn’t let Carr show his full talent.

“He’s so loved by the fans and he deserves every bit of it. He was somewhat tortured on his own thing but he was the most giving to the fans,” Kulick said of Carr. “He had more talent than Gene and Paul allowed him to do, which happens, but I know that Gene and Paul were very respectful of his musical contributions — his drumming, his vocals, and how he can contribute,” Kulick said.

He also recalled a song called ‘Little Caesar,’ a song connected to Carr. “I always carry him in my heart, I do, and I have a soft spot for him and the fans know that he had a real impact in those years. Another unusual thing was the fact that yes, he was in makeup for a little while and then of course I got to be with him without the makeup. That’s unusual obviously Vinnie [Vincent] for a hot minute was both, but it was just for a short period. Eric walked into ‘The Elder’ actually, which is really crazy. Then ‘Creatures of the Night’ wow, and ‘Lick It Up,’ wow. So at least he got to show what a drum sound everybody wants that right stuff like what ‘I Love it Loud’ sounds like and things like that.”

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Oct 18th and 19th in the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel. Actors, writers, performers, musicians and collectors are all in attendance!

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oastal Carolina’s trip to Virginia did not go as planned. The Chants lost to James Madison in a 39-7 blowout Thursday despite being tied in the first quarter.

When the game was close, one James Madison defensive player’s face paint drew attention. On a second-and-4 play, Coastal Carolina running back Braydon Bennett tried to make some headway on the ground, but JMU sophomore linebacker Gannon Weathersby met him quickly. Bennett recently surpassed 2,000 total yards in his five seasons at Coastal.

Weathersby stopped Bennett for a 1-yard gain, and the ESPN broadcast zoomed in on the JMU defender’s face paint. The design was white and black, and Weathersby’s face recalled the makeup style of the rock band Kiss.

Weathersby’s face paint also drew attention on social media. The Barstool Sports podcast Unnecessary Roughness’ X account also posted a photo of Weathersby’s face paint, adding: “What a look for this James Madison player.”

Weathersby finished the game with two tackles.

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For those who want to live like a rock star, here’s a true gem. Or should we say, jewel. The Beverly Hills, CA, mansion formerly owned by Kiss frontman Gene Simmons is back on the market, and it’s completely unrecognizable from its glam-metal days.

Fans of the rock legend may recall that the one-of-a-kind abode was the setting for the singer’s reality TV show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” which ran on the A&E network from 2006 until 2012.

Simmons and his wife, Shannon Tweed Simmons, purchased the property in 1986 for $1.3 million. They lived there for decades with their two children.

Gene Simmons has drawn controversy over remarks he made to contestants on Dancing With the Stars while serving as a guest judge on the show’s hair metal episod

Episode 592. The family is here… Michael, Mark, Tommy and Izzy! We discuss the new KISS Destroyer vinyl box set that sells for nearly $1000! This leads to a discussion on the “return” of CDs and Vinyl and finally a look at how streaming services pay artists or don’t pay artists and record deals and why artists need to understand their record label deal and how the money flows.

The concert was during the original KISS guitarist’s Just For Fun Tour and the setlist featured tracks from his KISS days and also from his then most recent solo album, Trouble Walkin’.

The video of the show cuts out during the Dynasty cut “Hard Times”.

Full setlist:

“Rocket Ride”
“Lost In Limbo”
“Parasite”
“Breakout”
“Shot Full Of Rock”
“New York Groove”
“Strange Ways”
“Cold Gin”
“Shock Me”
“2 Young 2 Die”
“Rock Soldiers”
“Torpedo Girl” / “Speedin’ Back To My Baby” / “She” / “Wiped Out” / “Hard Times”
“Strutter”
“Rip It Out”
“Detroit Rock City”
“Deuce”

Bruce Kulick was a low-key Superstrat shredder with Kiss in the ’80s, but during his time with Grand Funk Railroad he kept things more traditional. But after leaving that band last year, he tells Guitar World, he wanted to return to “powerful instruments with the Floyd Rose – the opposite to what was appropriate for Grand Funk.”

He explains: “I jumped in the rabbit hole of discovery. I’m learning every step of the way. I want to know what made my Kiss guitars so great.”

Kulick found help from Johnny DiFatta, a California-based guitar maker whose AXN Guitars is based on small-batch quality. “I manufacture a few guitars a year,” DiFatta says. “AXN will continue to be concerned more about uniqueness and individuality instead of quantity and high production.”

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Signed by Ace Frehley in January 2022 at a private signing in Jersey City, NJ. Signed by Anton Fig and Tod Howarth at Kruise Fest 2022. Signed by John Regan in a private signing in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2022. Includes our Certificate of Authenticity for each signature. Signed in black Sharpie pen.

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During a new interview with VRP Rocks, Bruce Kulick named his five favorite albums. Before going further with his favorite albums after naming KISS’ ‘Revenge’ as one of his favorites, the guitarist was asked about the importance of having a great producer.

“It’s extremely valuable and that’s why I always rave about Bob [Ezrin] and as much as he’s a mad professor and at times he tortured me, he was incredibly creative with the contributions,” the rocker explained. “Now other records where it was more produced by Gene and Paul at times, Paul or Gene would contribute ideas about the solos that everybody should have a voice in the studio and the songwriter clearly should be very vocal if he can.”

In Kulick’s words, Simmons and Stanley might look like they lack of direction in the band. However, this never meant they weren’t great musicians.

“Gene never wants to brag about how good he is on bass and what a tremendous musician he actually is. That’s part of his schtick, I believe. I don’t buy it for a second,” Kulick said of his former bandmate in a different interview.

Kulick continued to praise Paul Stanley, calling him “a tremendous rhythm player” and adding, “These guys are really, really talented musicians. The body of songs and the catalogue that they created, I’m just thrilled to be part of it.”

Kulick took place in the band’s ‘Revenge,’ playing almost all the guitar parts in most of the album.

KISS ended their multi-year ‘End of the Road’ Tour in New York in December 2023 and plan to launch a new era as ABBA-style avatars in 2027.

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Metal Hammer has issued a new feature on Danish metal icon, King Diamond, reflecting on a 2016 interview in which he looked back on supernatural encounters, near-death experiences, Metallica’s approval and run-ins with Gene Simmons.

In the following excerpt, King reflects on the time he was nearly sued by KISS:

It was also in 1988 that King was reportedly threatened with a lawsuit by KISS. At that time, KISS had been out of make-up for six years. But, KISS being KISS, had their image trademarked. On his 1988 album Them, King had his face painted in a design that bore a strong resemblance to that used by Gene Simmons.

“They might have wanted to sue me,” he says. “But lots of people used make-up before KISS, and they were not the ones that inspired me. It was Alice Cooper and Peter Gabriel. But I don’t hate KISS; I still listen to them.”

In the end the lawsuit never materialized. King believes he knows why. “I didn’t have much to be sued for,” he says, laughing.

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