Marty Friedman Reveals He Was Too Short for Kiss

Every rocker kid who grew up in the ‘70s dreamed of being in the legendary rock band Kiss. At least, I assume they did, along with smoking cigarettes at age 10 and eating lead paint chips. I don’t know much else about the ‘70s. But apparently, not just anyone can join in the famous group. According to Marty Friedman, Kiss is very strict about their height requirement. Apparently you must be this tall to rock ‘n’ roll all night and party every day.

In a recent interview with Sam Ash Music (that was transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), legendary guitarist Marty Friedman told the story of how he was contacted about the opportunity to audition for Kiss, only to be turned down for not being tall enough:

“Yes, that’s true. I was too short. I fit the other ones. I fit the other questions good. He says, ‘You have long hair?’ Yes. ‘You don’t have any facial hair?’ Correct. ‘You’re single?’ Yes. ‘You’re skinny?’ Yes. ‘Not blonde?’ Yes. I fit all of those things. And then he says, ‘How about your height? Are you six feet tall with no shoes?’ I’m like, ‘Oh shit, not even close.’”

Apparently they were so strict about it, they wouldn’t even let him compensate for his height with shoes:

“They said six feet with no shoes on. I wear high heels, anyway. They said six feet with no shoes on. I had everything else. And I was so upset. I was so upset. But what can you do?”

That’s a shame that Friedman wasn’t even allowed to audition due to his height, but perhaps he was spared from being immortalized as a cheesy avatar in a gimmick that’s likely to fail spectacularly, so at least he’s got that going for him.