Entertainment
KISS Cofounder Ace Frehley Dies at 74 After Suffering Fall at Home

Rocker Ace Frehley, the founding guitarist of KISS who went on to have a successful solo career of his own with hits like “New York Groove,” has died. He was 74.
Frehley’s family announced his death in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Thursday. Oct. 16, saying the rocker died earlier that day in Morristown, N.J. following a recent fall at his home.
“We are completely devastated and heartbroken. 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,” the statement read. “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!”
TMZ previously reported that the rocker was on life support due to a brain bleed caused by a fall several weeks ago.
Frehley told fans about the fall in a statement shared to Instagram on Sept. 25, writing at the time that he would need to cancel a performance scheduled for the next day in Lancaster. Calif.
The statement described the fall as “minor,” and said that the star was “fine,” but could not travel to the show, per doctor’s orders.
“Ace looks forward to continuing on his tour and finishing work on his next album, Origins Vol. 4,” the statement read.
Then on Oct. 6, Frehley canceled the rest of his 2025 tour dates “due to ongoing medical issues.”
Frehley — who was born in the Bronx, New York as Paul Frehley — was known for his “Spaceman” persona and makeup in KISS, which he co-founded in 1973 and eventually left in 1982.
Despite a rocky relationship with former bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in the ensuing years, Frehley briefly rejoined the band for a reunion tour in 1996, and last played with the group on the KISS Kruise in 2018.
“I’ve always been a fatalist and believed in fate. When I was 16 years old, I was convinced I was going to be a rock star. Nobody could change my mind,” he said in a 2018 interview at Musicians Institute, per Blabbermouth. “Somebody said to me in an interview, ‘What would have happened if KISS failed?’ I said, ‘I would have been famous with another band.’ Nothing was going to stop me.”
Tensions between Simmons and Frehley went back years; in 2019, Simmons told Guitar World that Frehley and founding drummer Peter Criss had been fired from KISS three times, in part because they “weren’t carrying their load” and weren’t dependable onstage.
In response, Frehley denied that he’d been fired, and called Simmons and Stanley “control freaks, untrustworthy and… too difficult to work with.”
Still, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the group in 2014, with inductor Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine calling Frehley his “first guitar hero.”
During the induction, Simmons praised Frehley, too, saying, that “his iconic guitar playing has been imitated, but never duplicated, by generations of guitar players around the world.”
After leaving KISS, Frehley formed his own group called Frehley’s Comet, which put out two albums, and launched a successful solo career that began in 1978 with a platinum-selling self-titled debut (With Space Invader in 2014, he became the only KISS member to crack the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart with a solo album, according to his biography).
Ace Frehley contained hits like “Rip It Out” and a cover of “New York Groove,” the latter of which is still played by the New York Mets whenever they win a home game at Citi Field.
Frehley said in 2018 that his favorite KISS song is “Deuce,” but named Ace Frehley as his favorite album he’s recorded, noting that “it’s stood the test of time.” He’s since released a number of solo albums, including 10,000 Volts in 2024.
He was dad to a daughter, Monique, with wife Jeanette, and said in the 2018 interview that it was Monique who’d inspired him to get sober in 2006.
“My daughter calls me up and goes, ‘Dad, I’m not hearing good things about you.’ I looked in the mirror and just said, ‘S— — she’s right,’” he said. “That evening, I called my sponsor and he took me to an AA meeting, and I’ve been sober ever since.”
In a 2024 interview with Anti Hero magazine, Frehley summed up his legacy in his own words.
“I have to say, almost every guitar player I meet, at least 75%, if not more, say to me, ‘I picked up the guitar because of you. When I heard Alive! that was it, I decided to pick up a guitar and start learning your songs,’” he said. “That’s going to be pretty much my legacy, that I was able to make the transition from a supergroup like KISS to being a successful solo artist.”
Frehley is survived by his wife Jeanette, daughter Monique, brother Charles, sister Nancy Salvner, and a number of nieces, nephews and extended family members.
Read the full article here

-
Movies6 days ago
From Woody Allen to Al Pacino
-
Movies6 days ago
Diane Keaton’s ex Woody Allen ‘extremely distraught’ over her death: report
-
Entertainment4 days ago
The 10 Best-Ever Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Musical Guests Ranked (Including Taylor Swift, of Course!)
-
Music6 days ago
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau pack on the PDA on her yacht
-
Music4 days ago
Taylor Swift announces Eras Tour docuseries — and it’s packed with Travis Kelce PDA
-
Movies4 days ago
Woody Allen pens emotional tribute to ‘magical’ ex Diane Keaton
-
Movies5 days ago
Al Pacino’s one big regret revealed after ex Diane Keaton’s death
-
TV6 days ago
Wendy Osefo made ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ reference on day she, husband Eddie reported alleged burglary