Ace Frehley, the Kiss guitarist and vocalist, died October 16, 2025, following a recent fall at his home. He was 74.
For 10 years, Kiss’ original lineup released a string of multi-platinum albums and dazzled audiences the world over with a unique sense of showmanship—explosions, fire-breathing, smoke-spewing guitars and fireworks. The impact and influence on a generation of fans and musicians was immense and enduring. Offstage, “Space” Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist, thrived on eccentric humor (he’d hand out large plastic bugs and house flies to strangers) and a singular laugh.
“My brother had a folk guitar, which I didn’t like because it wasn’t electric. So at Christmas, I asked my parents for an electric guitar, and I started practicing hours on end,” he recollected in 1987. He soon formed a band with his brother and performed at high schools and church dances. “And then I graduated to bars,” he laughed. In 1973, he answered an ad in the Village Voice placed by a New York City band called Wicked Lester. When the former art student passed the guitar audition, the group soon changed its name to Kiss and gained Frehley’s graphic design skills as well—he designed the hallmark Kiss logo, making the last two letters into lightning bolts. The members—Frehley joined Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss—began painting their faces and donning outrageous costumes for their concerts. Frehley cultivated an otherworldly image, with a winged outfit and silver galactic makeup.
The rock intelligentsia gave little respect, but Kiss took the world by storm with a lot of hype and a lot more hustle. Increasingly elaborate concert productions with pyrotechnics, theatrics and bitchin’ guitar riffs quickly made the act a cultural phenomenon, and the ample and well-marketed merchandise, portraying the unholy foursome as a collection of cartoon superheroes, grew to include everything from comic books to pinball machines to lunch boxes.
There was even a made-for-television movie, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. During filming in 1978, Frehley stood sans makeup behind an outdoor stage at Magic Mountain, the Valencia, California amusement park serving as a location. “There’s a lot of parents across the United States with youngsters who have our pictures plastered all over their walls,” Frehley said. “And they’re wondering, ‘Who are these crazy guys with the makeup and spooky costumes?’ When they see the movie and hear our new albums, they may get some insight into what we’re all about.”
All four members had burned out after years of touring, so in a typically excessive Kiss stunt, they took a break and simultaneously released their much-publicized solo efforts. Surprisingly—given Stanley’s role as Kiss’ lead singer and the all-star cast Simmons gathered for his creation—Frehley scored the highest-charting single from any of the albums, a cover of “New York Groove,” written by Russ Ballard and shaped by Eddie Kramer’s production.
The following year, Kiss made a perfectly timed appearance, parading into Denver’s McNichols Arena on Halloween week. Frehley’s guitar did everything but talk—lighting up in patterns and then flying out of his hands. Another one appeared in his grip and then exploded with rockets coming out of it.
Frehley left Kiss in 1983 and returned with Frehley’s Comet, a new group. “As early as 1978, I knew I was going to leave the band,” he said. “My solo album was such an awakening for me. I didn’t realize what I had inside of me—I was being held back. Since the beginning, Paul and Gene did most of the singing and writing, and it was hard for me to do more than just play lead. After the success of my solo album, I felt that if I stayed with Kiss, I could never fulfill what I wanted to do, which was to front my own band. I was fed up with the whole thing. I have my own studio at home in Connecticut, and I decided I wanted to stay home, work on my own material and play with the musicians of my choice.”
He paused. “But those ten years with Kiss were some of the best years of my life.”
