“I’m 5’7” but I’ll have an operation, I’ll do something”: Ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman was denied a Kiss audition for being too short

Marty Friedman and Gene Simmons in 2023.

Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman has said that his height once cost him the chance to audition for Kiss.

The Japan-based, American-born musician, who played with Megadeth from 1989 to 2000, made the revelation during a recent interview with Sam Ash Music. When asked if there was any Kiss song he would have liked to have played guitar on, Friedman answers (via NME): “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’s people.”