KISS shares tribute to Ace Frehley in first performance since his death

KISS paid an emotional tribute to late guitarist Ace Frehley during their first performance since his death.

“Obviously, before we get going — and we’re going to have an awesome time — but before we get going, we just wanted to take a moment to think about somebody who was at the foundation of this band,” frontman Paul Stanley told a Las Vegas crowd over the weekend.

“We’re talking about Ace,” he continued. “We certainly had differences, but that’s what family is about.”

Stanley, 73, then asked the crowd to “have a moment [of silence] for Ace” before kicking off the performance.

The band — currently comprised of Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer — presented their three-day “KISS Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas” event one month after Frehley’s death.

The former guitarist and founding member of KISS tragically died on Oct. 16 at the age of 74 after being hospitalized on life support, his family announced in a statement.

“We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley,” Stanley and Simmons wrote in a joint 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.”

The statement concluded, “Our thoughts are with [his estranged wife] Jeanette, [daughter] Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world.” 

A few weeks prior to his death, Frehley fell in his studio and suffered a brain bleed.

His death was determined to have been caused by a blunt force head injury sustained in the fall, the Morris County [New Jersey] Medical Examiner’s report stated, according to TMZ.

Frehley suffered a subdural hematoma, a skull fracture and a stroke. The musician had a medical procedure and was placed on life support to no avail.

His family ultimately made the decision to withdraw life support. Frehley’s death was ruled accidental.

Frehley was a founding member of the band, which formed in 1973. Though he left the group in 1982, he reunited with them for a reunion tour from 1996 to 2002.

Original members Stanley, Simmons and Peter Criss reunited for the guitarist’s memorial services in New York last month — the first time they’d been together since the 29th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 2014.