Ace Frehley, lead guitarist and co-founder of the band, dies at 74 Kiss

Ace Frehley, lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band KISS, has died at the age of 74.

The musician, who inspired a generation of guitarists and played on Kiss’ first nine albums, died on Thursday in a hospital in New Jersey after suffering injuries during a recent fall, his family said in a statement.

“We are absolutely devastated and devastated,” the Frehley family said. “In his final moments, we were fortunate enough to be able to surround him with loving, caring and peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his wonderful memories, his laughter, and celebrate the strength and kindness he gave to others.

“The magnitude of his death is of epic proportions, beyond comprehension. Considering all of his incredible accomplishments in life, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!”

Born Paul Daniel Frehley in New York City in 1951, he co-founded Kiss in 1973 with singer Paul Stanley, bassist and part-time vocalist Gene Simmons, and drummer Peter Criss.

After news of Frehley’s death broke, Stanley and Simmons said in a joint statement that they were “devastated.”

“He was an essential and irreplaceable soldier in rock music during some of the most formative chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss’ legacy,” they said, paying tribute to “all who loved him, including our fans around the world.”

Chris wrote on X: “I’m shocked!!! My friend… I love you!”

Frehley reportedly fell in his recording studio and hit his head in late September. He was hospitalized for several weeks and placed on life support after suffering a brain bleed.

His injuries initially forced him to cancel a concert date in California. Days later, the rest of his 2025 tour was canceled due to “some ongoing health issues.”

When Kiss released their self-titled debut album in 1974, critics were mostly cool, but the band quickly became popular and beloved by their fans for their wild live shows, black-and-white makeup, and leather costumes inspired by the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper. Each member had a different personality, with Frehley being the spaceman (or “Space Ace”), Simmons the devil, Stanley the star, and Chris the catman.

In keeping with the band’s theatrics, Frehley was known for playing his trademark modified Les Paul, which was designed to fill the stage with smoke during his guitar solos. He has never taken a guitar lesson, and said in a 2009 interview: “I’m gay, I’m a musician who didn’t go to school. I don’t know how to read music, but I’m one of the most famous guitar players in the world, so think about it.”

When all four Kiss members released solo albums on the same day in 1978, Frehley’s albums were the biggest sellers, with his cover of Russ Ballard’s “New York Groove” being a hit.

The faces of the band members were not revealed for over a decade. By this time, Frehley had left Kiss, having moved on to a solo career in 1982 after feeling conflicted about the band’s direction and struggling with substance abuse. “I was mixed up,” he later said of this period. “I thought if I stayed in that group, I would make it [killed myself]. I’d be driving home from the studio, and I’d want to drive my car into a tree.

In 1984, Frehley formed a new band, Frehley’s Comet, which released two studio albums but failed to take off. Frehley returned to using his name on his 1989 album Trouble Walkin’, which included backing vocals from Criss.

Frehley rejoined Kiss when the original members of the band reunited in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour, staying until 2002. However, when Kiss went on their farewell world tour in 2022 and 2023, Frehley did not join them. In his later years, he had a hostile relationship with Simmons, who made several comments in the press about Frehley’s past drug use.

In 2019, when Simmons claimed that Frehley had actually been kicked out of Kiss due to his drug use, Frehley addressed Simmons in a public statement, saying that he had been sober for 12 years and that he left Kiss “of my own volition, because you and Paul.” [Stanley] “They are control freaks, untrustworthy, and were very difficult to work with.”

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready paid tribute, recalling how he first learned about Frehley when he was 11, when a friend got him a lunch box that “kissed” him and “changed my life.”

“All my friends spent countless hours talking about Kiss and buying things from Kiss. ​​Ace was a hero of mine and I too would consider him a friend. I have studied his solo scores endlessly over the years,” McCready wrote, adding that playing with Frehley at Madison Square Garden was “a dream come true for me.”

“I wouldn’t have picked up the guitar if it weren’t for the influence of Ace and Kiss,” he wrote. “Tear it up Ace, you changed my life.”

Poison’s frontman, Bret Michaels, wrote on

Frehley is survived by his wife, Janet, and his daughter, Monique.