OCTOBER 15, 2003 – Grand Funk guitarist and former KISS member Bruce Kulick (b. December 12, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York City) was shot while walking with a friend on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Two stray bullets came within a couple of inches of killing him on striking him in the leg and head outside of Hollywood’s famous Rainbow Bar & Grill during a melee by some irate club-goers. “I was in shock, as it sounded like a car backfiring and felt like a hot poker went through my leg,” Kulick said via his website. “I didn’t know what happened until paramedics told me.”Kulick had just seen Vince Neil perform at a club near the Rainbow, where a fight had left one man drunk, angry and holding a loaded 9mm.
He started shooting wildly, and bullets ultimately struck Kulick’s right thigh and luckily only grazed his temple. One other person was shot in the foot.The head wound was easily treated and the medical team told Kulick the other bullet hit only flesh and muscle, not bone or arteries.
By the time he got home, the news was all over CNN and MTV. “With the help of some dear friends,” Kulick said, “I was able to heal quickly and survive a truly surreal experience.”At the time, MTV reported that the 21-year-old gunman was tackled by a club patron and then beaten up by several members of the crowd.
He was also treated at the hospital before being released to police. In February 2005, he was given 10 years in prison, but his sentence was later shortened.A member of KISS from 1984-96, Kulick was a former member of the band Good Rats and toured with Andrea True Connection and Meat Loaf. He also formed Blackjack with future solo star Michael Bolton, and played on several Bolton solo albums (Bolton later co-wrote the KISS song “Forever” from “Hot in the Shade”).
After KISS, Kulick became a member of Union with former Scream and Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi from 1997-2002. In 2001, he joined Grand Funk Railroad and released the solo LP “Audio Dog,” followed by “ Transformer” in 2003.After the shooting incident, Kulick made a return with the track “I Survive” from his third solo album “BK3” (2010) and continues to play guitar for Grand Funk Railroad.
Kulick’s brother is the late session guitarist/producer Bob Kulick, whose performance credits include KISS, Lou Reed, and W.A.S.P.