Ace Frehley, the unique lead guitarist and founding member of the glam rock band KISS who captivated audiences together with his elaborate make-up and smoke-filled guitar, died Thursday. He was 74.
Frehley died peacefully surrounded by household in Morristown following a latest fall, in line with his agent.
Members of the family mentioned in a press release that they’re “utterly devastated and heartbroken” however will cherish his laughter and rejoice the kindness he bestowed upon others.
KISS, whose hits embrace Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock Metropolis, was identified for its intense stage reveals, which included fireworks, smoke and eruptions of pretend blood carried out by band members in black-and-white painted faces, platform boots and black wigs.
KISS’ authentic lineup included Frehley, singer-guitarist Paul Stanley, tongue-wagging bassist Gene Simmons and drummer Peter Criss. Frehley’s is the primary loss of life among the many 4 founding members.
Band members took on the personas of comedian book-style characters — Frehley was often called “Area Ace” and “The Spaceman.” The New York-born entertainer and Rock & Roll Corridor of Famer typically experimented with pyrotechnics, making his guitars glow, emit smoke and shoot rockets from the headstock.
“We’re devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley,” Simmons and Stanley mentioned in a joint assertion. “He was a vital and irreplaceable rock soldier throughout among the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its historical past. He’s and can all the time be part of KISS’s legacy.”
Born Paul Daniel Frehley, he grew up in a musical household and started enjoying guitar at age 13. Earlier than becoming a member of Kiss, he performed in native bands round New York Metropolis and was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix at age 18.
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KISS was particularly in style within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, promoting tens of hundreds of thousands of albums and licensing its iconic look to grow to be a advertising and marketing marvel. Beth was its largest business hit within the U.S., peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Prime 100 in 1976.
Because the Kennedy Heart’s new chairman, President Donald Trump named Kiss as one in all this yr’s honorees.
In 2024, the band bought their catalogue, model identify and mental property to Swedish firm Pophouse Leisure Group in a deal estimated to be over $300 million.
Frehley steadily feuded with Stanley and Simmons by the years. He left the band in 1982, lacking the years once they took off the make-up and had combined success. Stanley later mentioned they practically changed Frehley with Eddie Van Halen, however Vinnie Vincent assumed the lead guitar position.
Frehley carried out each as a solo artist and together with his band, Frehley’s Comet.
However he rejoined KISS within the mid-Nineteen Nineties for a triumphant reunion and restoration of their authentic type that got here after bands together with Nirvana, Weezer and the Melvins had expressed affection for the band and paid them musical tributes.
He would go away once more in 2002. When the unique 4 entered the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 2014, a dispute scrapped plans for them to carry out. Simmons and Stanley objected to Criss and Frehley being inducted as an alternative of then-guitarist Tommy Thayer and then-drummer Eric Singer.
Simmons instructed Rolling Stone journal that yr that Frehley and Criss “not should put on the paint.” “The make-up is earned,” he added. “Simply being there originally is just not sufficient.”
Frehley and KISS additionally had an enormous affect on the glammy type of Nineteen Eighties so-called hair steel bands together with Mötley Crüe and Poison.
“Ace, my brother, I certainly can’t thanks sufficient for the years of nice music, the numerous festivals we’ve finished collectively and your lead guitar on Nothing However A Good Time,” Poison entrance man Bret Michaels mentioned on Instagram.
More durable-edged bands like Metallica and Pantera had been additionally followers, and even nation celebrity Garth Brooks joined the band members for a recording of their Laborious Luck Girl on a 1994 compilation.
Frehley would seem sometimes with KISS for reveals in later years. A 2023 live performance at Madison Sq. Backyard was billed because the band’s final. Whereas Stanley and Simmons mentioned they’d not tour once more, they’ve been open to the opportunity of extra live shows, they usually’ve stayed lively selling the group’s music and memorabilia.
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