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Ace Frehley, Kiss Founding Guitarist, Dies at 74 After Fall

The Spaceman’s showmanship with sharp, melodic riffs helped define Kiss’s rise.

Overview

  • His family announced he died at home in Morristown, New Jersey, and a representative told AFP he was surrounded by relatives after a recent fall.
  • Relatives said he suffered a severe head injury in his studio that caused a cerebral hemorrhage.
  • Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons paid tribute, calling him a “soldier of rock” and an irreplaceable presence in the band’s formative years.
  • Frehley co-founded Kiss in 1973, crafted the Spaceman persona with effects-laden guitars, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
  • He left the band in 1982 before rejoining in the mid-1990s, then sustained a solo career with Frehley’s Comet and the 2024 album 10,000 Volts; he is survived by his wife, Jeanette, and his daughter, Monique.