Ace Frehley - One of the most iconic guitarists

I thought I'd start a new series where I'll talk about different iconic rock stars , give basic information about them and maybe also dig a little deeper into their lives!

My very first episode of this series will be Ace Frehley . He has always been close to my heart and it is an honor to write about him. 

He also passed away recently, so I thought it would be nice to tell you about him for those who didn't really know him.

Early life, family and education

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley was born April 27, 1951  in New York City , U.S.

His parents' names were Carl and Esther Frehley and he had two siblings; a sister named Nancy and a brother named Charles.

Ace used to sing in a school's choir and later in his teenage years he started learning to play guitar. He got his first guitar when he turned 13.

 He didn't take any lessons , but he learned by himself. His family was very musical, both of his parents played piano, his brother and sister both played guitar and piano.

Frehley had a troubled childhood. He joined a local street gang when he was 13, although his interest in the gang waned as his interest in music grew.

He was expelled from several high schools before eventually dropping out altogether.

During that time he gained the nickname "Ace" , because his friends believed that he was a "real ace" with his ability to get dates.

Later his girlfriend and family convinced him to return to school and get a diploma and he did!

Music career

After the breakup of Cathedral (a band he was in when he was young) , Frehley spent the early 1970s in a variety of bands. 

One of Frehley’s most successful bands was Molimo, who also recorded their debut album, but didn’t end up releasing it

KISS (1973-1982)

In late 1972 , one of Frehley’s friends called Chris Cassone noticed an ad for an unnamed new band looking for a lead guitarist. Frehley, who was looking for a new band, was invited for one of the auditions. He didn’t have enough money to travel by taxi, so his mother drove him there in January 1973.

According to a known story, Frehley arrived to the audition wearing one red and one orange pair of sneakers and was initially thought by the other members to be a “complete idiot”. 

However, his guitar playing impressed the other members and after two weeks of the audition, Frehley became the very first lead guitarist for the still unnamed band.

When Ace joined the band, the band already included rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Paul Stanley (The starchild) , bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons (The demon) and drummer Peter Criss (The catman).

The band’s name was later decided to be “Kiss” . And Frehley, known as a talented artist, designed the logo of Kiss, which is still used as the logo!

In January 1973 , the band had also decided that each member would wear makeup when performing on the stage. Frehley’s stage makeup consisted of silver star patterns painted around his eyes with silver, and his stage persona in the band became known as the Spaceman!

They published 12 albums in total , where Ace was officially a member of the band.

Albums where Ace was an active member:

• Kiss (1974)

• Hotter than Hell (1974)

• Dressed To Kill (1975)

• Destroyer (1976)

• Rock and Roll Over (1976)

• Love Gun (1977)

• Ace Frehley (1978) (one of the four solo albums, but officially part of KISS’s 1978 solo-album set)

• Dynasty (1979)

• Unmasked (1980)

• Music from “The Elder” (1981)

• Creatures of the Night (1982) (he was on the cover and still an official member of the band, but he didn’t actually play on it)

• Psycho Circus (1988)

Solo career

After leaving Kiss for a while, Frehley started his solo career and made his own band, called “Frehley’s comet”.

Back to Kiss:

Kiss made an come back with all the original members back in 1996. It lasted to the year 2002.

After that when Ace had officially left Kiss forever, Ace continued his solo career. He recorded some albums in his studio, which he build to his basement.

Death

Ace suffered a cerebral hemorrhage after falling in his studio, and was put on a ventilator. His family decided to end his treatment after a few weeks. He died on October 16, 2025 at the age of 74.

A lot of different guitarists, and celebrities told their won experiences, of how Ace had inspired them to follow their dreams.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons gave a short speech:

"I am devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier .. He is and will always be a part of KISS's legacy .. Our hearts are broken. Ace has passed on. No one can touch Ace's legacy. Ace was the eternal rock soldier. Long may his legacy live on!"

Gene Simmons said in one of the interviews:

"If I have any regrets, my hand to God, it's that I sometimes wish we were smarter and better at trying to help Ace and Peter have better lives.. all of us are guilty of it, and so am I.. Meantime, somebody who might be your brother is ruining their life by making bad decisions."

he contiuned:

"I wish I had practiced more tough love and been more in the face of people what we cared about.. It's not going to be a popular thing.. but in the long run .. you're going to be helping that person, hopefully, change their life"

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Thank you so much for reading this article! I will start on writing some new ones soon!

Feel free to request me any rockstars for example, who you would like to hear about!

I also will keep on editing this blog entry, when I notice mistakes or some blank spaces where I should add more information!