Former KISS Guitarist Bruce Kulick Updates Fans on Recovery From Heart Valve Surgery

Bruce Kulick posted about his health, twelve days after doctors opened his chest to repair a valve problem he'd had since birth. The 72-year-old spent eight days in a hospital bed before his wife Lisa, brought him home.

"My recent open-heart surgery and 8 days in the hospital were hard to experience," Kulick wrote on Facebook on May 3. "Being home now with Lisa to recover is day by day. Happily, I do feel the slow improvements, and the process takes a long time."

His aortic valve had only two flaps instead of three, and stenosis was making it worse. About one or two people out of a hundred are born with this defect. "Taking care of the valve before a life-threatening heart event happens in order to live long was the right choice," he wrote. "Ignoring it would have been foolish and dangerous."

He also spoke about the future. "I have much more music and many more moments to experience in my life," he wrote. "So now is the time to heal from my surgery and I view this is as my primary goal treating it with dedication and strength, along with my loving wife Lisa who has been beyond incredible to me."

His old bandmate Gene Simmons reached out online and offered encouragement. Most patients need six to twelve weeks in hospitals and at home after this kind of operation. Getting back to regular activities takes three to six months.

Kulick joined KISS in 1984 and stayed for twelve years, leaving after the 1996 reunion tour wrapped up. Six studio albums bear his guitar work, plus two live recordings. Other musicians he's played with include Meat Loaf, Billy Squier, Michael Bolton, and Grand Funk Railroad.

The guitarist has a booking for the 2026 KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas event.