A Rock ’n’ Roll Farewell — Remembering Ace Frehley (1951–2025)
The Spaceman’s riffs, swagger, and spectacle changed rock forever.
Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist and a founding member of KISS, died on October 16, 2025 in Morristown, New Jersey. He was 74. His family said he passed peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. Multiple outlets reported the death followed a recent fall; TMZ reported a brain bleed and life support. Though the precise official cause was not immediately confirmed.
Born Paul Daniel Frehley in the Bronx on April 27, 1951, he joined KISS in 1973 after answering a musicians-wanted ad and quickly became the band’s ‘Spaceman,’ pairing searing, melodic leads with smoke-belching guitars and arena-scale theatrics. Across the band’s seminal 1970s run—from the 1974 debut through live milestones like Alive! and bombastic studio sets such as Destroyer—Frehley’s tone and instincts helped define the group’s heavy-glam sound. His 1978 solo album proved the most commercially successful of the four individual KISS releases, powered by the hit “New York Groove.”
Frehley left KISS in the early 1980s, returned for the mid‑’90s reunion, and continued on-and-off with the band into the early 2000s. While building a solo career (including his 2024 album 10,000 Volts). Whatever the setting, the hallmarks remained: big hooks, bigger bends, and a showman’s sense of fun.
Tributes to a Legend
In tributes after his death, bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley called him “an irreplaceable rock soldier,” while Peter Criss mourned the loss of a friend who inspired millions. It was a fitting epitaph for a guitarist whose riffs launched a thousand garage bands—and whose silver‑streaked persona made generations reach for makeup and a Les Paul.
Ace Frehley’s legacy is simple to state and hard to measure. He made rock feel cosmic. And in clubs, bedrooms, and stadiums where his records still roar, the Spaceman keeps flying.
