“‘You got long hair, right?’ Right. ‘And you’re over 6 feet tall?’ I’m like, ‘I’m 5’7 but I’ll have an operation’”: Marty Friedman recalls missing out on joining Kiss because of his height
Yngwie Malmsteen and White Lion's Vito Bratta were also rejected due to image-related reasons
(Image credit: Left-Jun Sato/WireImage; Right-Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Marty Friedman recently revealed he was turned away from a KISS audition for being “too short”. At 5’7, the former Megadeth guitarist didn't meet the band's visual and height requirements.
In a recent interview with Sam Ash [via NME], Friedman was asked which KISS song he would have liked to play guitar on. He replied, “I would’ve wanted to be on any KISS song. I’ll give you a quick story about that. When they were changing guitar players a long time ago, I got a call from KISS’ people.
“They say, ‘Do you think you’d be interested in auditioning for KISS?’ I’m like ‘Tell me when and where.’ They came back and were like, ‘We’ve got a couple of questions for you. You don’t have any facial hair, do you?’ No.
“‘You got long hair right?’ Right. ‘You’re skinny right?’ Right. ‘And you’re over 6 feet tall?’ and I’m like, ‘What? I’m 5’7 but I’ll have an operation, I’ll do something.’ And they were like “‘I’m sorry, it’s not going to work out.’ I was so bummed.”
Almost all of the original KISS members, bar Peter Criss, are taller than six feet. Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Paul Stanley were typically outfitted in platform boots for their live shows, which made them appear even taller.
This isn’t the first time KISS turned away a promising member due to their strict aesthetic demands. Yngwie Malmsteen missed out on a spot because he mistakenly gave his height in centimeters, the metric system used in Europe, rather than in the U.S.-preferred feet and inches.
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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
