Megadeth's Marty Friedman snubbed by KISS for being 'too short'
Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman was meant to audition for KISS before he was rejected because of his height.
Marty Friedman was rejected by KISS for being "too short".
The former Megadeth guitarist - who spent a decade with the iconic heavy metal group between 1990 and 2000 - was once offered the chance to audition for the 'Crazy Crazy Nights' rockers, but the opportunity was taken away almost immediately.
Speaking to 'Sam Ash Music', Marty was asked if there was any KISS song he would like to have played on, and recalled: "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 like ‘Do you think you’d be interested in auditioning for KISS?’ I’m like ‘Tell me when and were’.
"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.”
Marty was disappointed to miss out on a chance to play alonogside the 'Rock and Roll All Nite' hitmakers, who completed their final tour last year with founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons still part of the lineup.
However, he admitted he understood the decision to pass on him due to his height, given how important the band's image.
He added: "I get why they did it. KISS is meticulous about their image, and having a height difference wouldn’t fit the band’s aesthetic.”
Earlier this year, KISS made a deal with Pophouse - the Swedish company behind ABBA's 'Voyage' show - for its publishing, recording royalties and trademarks, including the group's logo and makeup design, with plans for an avatar-led live show.
CEO Per Sundin said: "We want to keep to the legacy. We want to extend it and amplify it for new generations.”
