Ace Frehley, the iconic original guitarist for KISS, has died. Frehley's Spaceman persona was a crucial part of the KISS mystique during the band's peak years, and his 1978 cover of Hello's disco hit "New York Groove" is easily the best and biggest song from any of KISS members' solo endeavors. Last week his remaining 2025 tour dates were canceled following a fall in his studio that resulted in a brain injury. Frehley was 74.
"We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” Frehley’s family shares in a statement. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!”
Paul Daniel Frehley was born in the Bronx in 1951, and he started playing guitar as a teenager in the '60s. He joined a bunch of rock bands as a kid and dropped out of high school to perform with his group Cathedral while working day jobs. In 1972, he responded to a Village Voice ad looking for guitarists, and that led him to KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. They invited Frehley to join the band, and Frehley designed their logo. When KISS started painting their faces, Frehley became the Spaceman, or the Space Ace, because he was into sci-fi.
KISS played New York clubs and signed to the disco label Casablanca, and they released their self-titled debut in 1974. The band's face-painted aesthetic and muscular singalong sound, both heavily influenced by British glam-rock, made them a media sensation. They freaked out parents' groups and captured the imaginations of kids, and they started finding mainstream success by the mid-'70s. They toured arenas constantly, and their live show was captured on the 1975 live album Alive! before they recorded the successful 1976 LP Destroyer with Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin. Frehley occasionally wrote songs and sang lead, though he was never the main focus in the band. Still, when all four KISS members released solo albums in 1978, the only big hit to come out of it was Frehley's version of "New York Groove." That song, it's worth noting, is absolutely incredible.
KISS continued to make big records and occasional hit singles through the end of the '70s, and they were also the stars of the cult-classic 1978 made-for-TV movie KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park. The group took off their makeup and became much less successful in the early '80s, and Frehley parted ways with the group in 1982. Frehley's new band Frehley's Comet released their self-titled debut in 1987, and it was reasonably successful. Original KISS drummer Peter Criss, who'd been kicked out of the band before Frehley, eventually joined Frehley's Comet.
In 1996, all four original KISS members reunited to record the album Psycho Circus and, more importantly, to tour in full makeup. Frehley continued to tour with KISS until 2001, and played with them for the last time the following year at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He spent his last years touring and recording as a solo artist and feuding publicly with his former KISS bandmates. His final album was 2024's 10,000 Volts.
"We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley," Frehley's former bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley say in a statement. "He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of KISS's legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world."
I remember 1974 being in my room at the Hyatt on Sunset in LA and I heard someone playing deep and fiery guitar in the room next door. I thought “Boy, I wish THAT guy was in the band!” I looked over the balcony… He was. It was Ace. This is my favorite photo of us… pic.twitter.com/3ojMXqVkQr
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) October 17, 2025
Check out some of Ace Frehley's work below.
