When news broke that Ace Frehley had died at age 74, the reactions from his former bandmates in Kiss were quick, emotional and full of respect. In a joint statement late Thursday, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons called their longtime guitarist “an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier.” They said they were “devastated” by the loss.
“He is and will always be a part of Kiss’s legacy,” the statement read. They extended love to Frehley’s wife, Jeanette, his daughter, Monique, and fans around the world who had followed the Spaceman’s career since the band’s explosive debut in the 1970s.
Simmons, often viewed as the band’s tough-as-nails face, posted a much more personal message on social media, “Our hearts are broken. Ace has passed on. No one can touch Ace’s legacy.”
Their comments stood in stark contrast to the band’s sometimes rocky past with Frehley, who famously left Kiss in 1982, returned briefly in the late ‘90s, and had a complicated history with his bandmates ever since. Still, on this day, the music, and the bond, came first.
Peter Criss, the band’s original drummer, offered perhaps the most intimate tribute. He revealed that he and his wife were by Frehley’s side during his final moments and that he died peacefully. “My brother Ace Frehley has passed away,” Criss wrote. “I love you, my brother.”
He asked fans for privacy as they mourn, but he also spoke directly to the Kiss Army, the band’s diehard fanbase, “My heart is with you all… Broken.”
A Spaceman Who Changed Rock
Known to fans around the world as “The Spaceman,” Frehley was more than just the guy in silver makeup. His style, slinky, flashy, a little off-kilter, helped shape the sound and feel of Kiss during their most legendary years.
He was the guitar hero for a generation. And you could hear it in the tributes from other musicians, many of whom credited Frehley as a major influence.
Simmons said on his X account, “Our hearts are broken. Ace has passed on. No one can touch Ace’s legacy. I know he loved the fans. He told me many times. Sadder still, Ace didn’t live long enough to be honored at the Kennedy Ctr Honors event in Dec. Ace was the eternal rock soldier. Long may his legacy live on!”
Criss said he was “shocked” and loved Ace.
Mike McCready of Pearl Jam said bluntly, “I would not have picked up a guitar without Ace and Kiss’s influence.” Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine echoed the sentiment, calling Frehley “my first guitar hero” and thanking him for “a lifetime of great music and memories.”
The members of Rush, who toured with Kiss in the 1970s, posted a heartfelt memory of late-night hotel hangouts. “We spent many a night in his room after shows, just doing whatever nonsense we could think of,” they said. “He was an undeniable character and an authentic rock star.”
While Ace’s silver space makeup was instantly recognizable, it was his guitar tone that made him a legend.
He wrote and sang “Shock Me,” one of Kiss’s most beloved songs, and one that was inspired by a real-life accident where he was nearly electrocuted during a 1976 concert. That brush with death turned into rock history. It also showed Frehley’s grit, humor and commitment to turning chaos into music.
His biggest solo moment came with his 1978 hit “New York Groove,” a swaggering anthem that became a top-20 hit and remains one of the most recognizable songs in his catalog.
Paul Stanley shared a personal memory in his tribute. He remembered hearing someone playing loud guitar in a nearby hotel room in Los Angeles in 1974. When he knocked on the door, it was Ace. “This is my favorite photo of us,” Stanley wrote, sharing an old black-and-white shot. “We were young and had everything in front of us.”
Ace Frehley is Still Echoing
Tributes continued pouring in from every corner of the rock world.
“Thank you, Ace,” Tom Morello wrote again. “For giving me, and millions of others, permission to be loud, weird, and fully ourselves.”
Younger musicians, many of whom weren’t even born when Kiss was in their prime, are now talking about how Frehley’s solos were the first they learned. Social media flooded with clips, memories, photos, and old concert flyers.
Even fans who had never seen him live wrote of how his playing felt like a message sent straight to them, loud, flashy, a little mischievous, but always honest.
And maybe that’s what made him great. Ace Frehley never tried to be perfect. He just tried to be Ace.
One Last Encore
In the end, rock and roll has always been about impact. Not neatness. Not order. Just volume, emotion, and presence. Ace Frehley brought all of that, and then some.
Whether it was the smoke rising from his guitar or the way he could bend a note until it felt like a cry from another planet, his style was unmistakable.
He was the Spaceman, but he was also the everyman of rock guitar, the guy who made you believe you could do it too, if you just plugged in and played loud enough.
Now, his guitar is silent. But his sound is everywhere.
From the stages of New York clubs to arenas in Japan, from old vinyl records to late-night playlists, Ace Frehley lives on in the music. The solos are still there. The groove is still moving. And that makeup, even if no one ever wears it again, still glows in the memory.
Rest easy, Spaceman. You never came back to Earth, but you brought a lot of us along for the ride
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