Bruce Kulick left Grand Funk Railroad in January 2024 after a 23-year tenure with the band. The guitarist, who initially cited a desire to focus on other projects, recently elaborated on his decision in an interview with VRP Rocks.
“The last couple of years since the pandemic got really wearing on me,” he explained. “Not the music, not playing with them. You know, we all got along. It was just like I’m killing myself with the flights and the hotels and the travel every weekend, and I’m not celebrating my legacy. So, last October, I told Don I’d leave at the end of the year.”
Kulick noted that guitarist Mark Chatfield, a longtime friend of both him and drummer Don Brewer, has stepped in to replace him. “Chatfield was the guitar player with Bob Seger when I first met Don Brewer,” the guitarist recalled. “I mean, it’s like an interesting symmetry there. And that was like 40 years [ago]. That was ‘83 [when] we did that. So, yeah, do the math. It’s crazy.”
Grand Funk Railroad embarked on their first tour with Chatfield in January 2024, performing across the United States throughout the year. Kulick expressed pride in the group’s ongoing success.
“Mark’s having a hell of a time,” he shared. “He loved Grand Funk, and he wants to—he learned the way I was doing Grand Funk, but he loves Foreigner. So, he was able to make it his own, and that’s what he’s done now. So, they’re really still out there doing it. They’re working really well, and I’m so proud of them.”
“Like I said, it was time for me to just concentrate on me, and Don got it. I had the worst travels because I had—I’m [in] West Coast and most of the gigs are [in] Midwest and East Coast. But I keep in touch. I still dream about gigs with them. It’s pretty funny.”
Kulick performed his final show with Grand Funk Railroad on December 14, 2023, in Marietta, Ohio. While the group continued touring with Chatfield, the guitarist hinted at new personal projects, possibly revisiting his KISS era.
Grand Funk Railroad will conclude their 2024 tour on December 14 in Detroit, Michigan, before resuming performances on January 11, 2025.
