Bob Kulick

Robert Joel Kulick

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/210572073/bob-kulick

Born Robert Joel Kulick, he was a guitarist and record producer who was best known for his work with KISS and W.A.S.P.

In 1972, he auditioned for lead guitar for a then-new band called KISS. The band members, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, were very impressed by his performance, but Ace Frehley who auditioned immediately after him was chosen to fill the spot. However, he did later play uncredited on four KISS albums: Alive II (three of the five studio tracks), Unmasked (played lead guitar on "Naked City"), Killers (all four new studio tracks), and some minimal work on Creatures of the Night.

He also played on Paul Stanley's 1978 solo album and on his 1989 solo tour. As a session artist, he played lead guitar for Lou Reed on his Coney Island Baby record and then was with the Neverland Express, Meat Loaf's touring band, on and off for years, which led to appearances on several Meat Loaf albums, most notably on 1984's Bad Attitude.

He formed a band called Balance that had modest chart success in the early 1980s, followed up by playing rhythm and lead guitar on Michael Bolton's 1983 self-titled album. He became involved with a project called Skull that released one album in 1991 called No Bones About It. He also played on the W.A.S.P. albums The Crimson Idol and Still Not Black Enough. He was only involved with the studio work and never toured with W.A.S.P. or became a member of the band.

In 1996 he released Murderer's Row with his band of the same name. This group included David Glen Eisley on vocals.

He went on to be in side projects such as Blackthorne and Observation Balloon. He produced Motörhead's "Whiplash" which was the winner of the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He also produced and played guitar on the theme for WWE wrestler Triple H, and earned 11 platinum or gold records working with KISS and Diana Ross. He composed, produced, and performed "Sweet Victory" with Eisley in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Band Geeks" on Nickelodeon and the song appears on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Album.

He resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was a regular participant in the annual "KISS Night in Las Vegas" fundraiser for music programs in Clark County, Nevada schools until his death.

He was the second husband of actress, producer and director Stella Stevens.