Ace Frehley, the unique lead guitarist and founding member of Kiss, died right now, October 16, 2025, on the age of 74. Recognized to tens of millions of followers as “The Spaceman,” Frehley was a defining presence in one of many largest and most theatrical rock bands in historical past. For individuals who do not know, Ace was a part of Kiss from the very starting, serving to form the band’s look, sound, and swagger throughout its meteoric rise by way of the Seventies. He was there on the absolute zenith of their success, from 1973 till his departure in 1982, when Kiss was one of the well-known—and worthwhile—bands on the earth.
In 1978, when all 4 Kiss members launched solo albums concurrently, Frehley’s document turned out to be the shock hit. His self-titled album “Ace Frehley” outsold the others and produced the Prime 20 single “New York Groove,” which stays a stadium anthem at New York sporting occasions practically fifty years later.
However it wasn’t all good occasions. For each sold-out area and platinum document, there have been equally harmful doses of intercourse, medication, and rock and roll—and maybe an excessive amount of of all three for Ace particularly. By the early Nineteen Eighties, the enjoyable had curdled. Behind the silver make-up and explosive guitar solos was a person falling aside. The partying had stopped being a reward and began changing into an issue, and the strain inside Kiss was reaching a breaking level. Frehley later admitted that he was so depressing and self-destructive throughout that interval that he believed staying within the band would kill him.
As 1982 approached, Kiss was nonetheless a world empire. Band co-founders (and de facto leaders) Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have been able to money in on one other spherical of excursions and albums. They only wanted their lead guitarist to signal on. What they did not know was that Ace Frehley had already reached his breaking level—and no greenback quantity may persuade him to remain.
(Picture by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Pictures)
Turning Down a Fortune
Frehley later described that interval as one in every of complete chaos — a blur of exhaustion, paranoia, and habit that left him questioning every part. The celebrity, the fortune, the surplus — none of it mattered anymore. Kiss had gone from being a band of hungry outsiders to a billion-dollar enterprise powered by managers, merchandising offers, and infinite touring. To the surface world, they have been nonetheless gods of rock. Inside, Ace felt trapped. As he later recalled:
“I used to be combined up. I believed that if I stayed in that group I might have dedicated suicide. I might be driving residence from the studio, and I might wish to drive my automobile right into a tree.”
Put your self in Ace’s footwear at the moment. You are in one of many largest bands on earth. You are flying on personal jets, staying in five-star inns, and surrounded by followers and groupies in all places you go. Life is an infinite buffet of intercourse, medication, rock and roll, and common debauchery.
Would you will have signed up for one more spherical?
Ace walked away. And as he revealed in an interview a long time later, he left a ton of cash on the desk:
“I imply, I walked out on a $15 million contract. That may be like $100 million right now. And my lawyer was taking a look at me like, ‘What are you, loopy?'”
FYI, $15 million in 1982 is definitely extra like $50 million right now. Nonetheless, it was a staggering sum of cash and a shocking determination. And that seemingly does not embody his share of future royalties, tour earnings, and merchandise income. Over the a long time that finally handed, Ace would have earned lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} had he stayed in Kiss. However not if it killed him first!
Frehley left not simply the celebrity and fortune, however the poisonous atmosphere that had practically consumed him. In interviews later in life, he stated he felt an awesome sense of aid as soon as he lastly stepped away. The strain was gone. The chaos was gone. He may lastly breathe once more.
Life After Kiss
After leaving Kiss in 1982, Ace Frehley took a step again from the chaos of fame and commenced rebuilding each his life and profession. A couple of years later, he returned to music with a brand new venture known as Frehley’s Comet, signing with Megaforce Information and releasing a self-titled album in 1987. The document bought practically half one million copies and produced the rock radio hit “Rock Troopers.” Two extra albums adopted — “Second Sighting” and “Hassle Walkin'” — cementing his popularity as a revered solo artist with a loyal fan base.
The Nineties introduced each redemption and reconciliation. In 1996, Kiss staged one of the profitable reunion excursions in rock historical past, with all 4 unique members — Frehley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss — again in full make-up for the primary time in practically twenty years. The tour grossed over $140 million and led to the 1998 album “Psycho Circus.” Although tensions resurfaced and Frehley left once more in 2002, his place in rock historical past was safe.
Over the next twenty years, Frehley maintained a gentle solo profession. Albums like “Anomaly” (2009), “House Invader” (2014), and “Spaceman” (2018) earned stable critiques and reconnected him with a brand new era of followers. He toured relentlessly, performing a mixture of solo materials and Kiss classics nicely into his seventies.
However the highway wasn’t all the time clean. Frehley’s battles with habit continued intermittently, as did his monetary troubles. He misplaced his residence to foreclosures in 2013 and was usually candid in regards to the cash he’d blown by way of throughout his wilder years. He additionally remained embroiled in an on-again, off-again feud with Simmons and Stanley, buying and selling barbs in interviews about his place within the Kiss legacy. Nonetheless, there was mutual respect beneath the rivalry — a shared recognition that Kiss by no means would have turn out to be Kiss with out Ace Frehley.
Even after a long time aside, followers continued to hope for one final reunion. Frehley usually hinted that he was open to it, however the stars by no means aligned. As an alternative, he carried on doing what he beloved — taking part in loud, quick, and free.
The Ultimate Encore
Had he taken one other path, Ace Frehley may need as an alternative died on October 16, 1982. He would have been a 31-year-old rock god with an enormous unspent fortune accumulating mud within the financial institution. As an alternative, he lived one other 40+ years. He could have walked away from an enormous fortune, however you may’t take your cash with you to the afterlife!
Ace Frehley will endlessly be remembered as the center and soul of Kiss’s basic sound — the swaggering guitarist who made house cool and turned area rock right into a spectacle. His fiery solos, signature “Spaceman” persona, and uncooked charisma impressed generations of musicians to choose up a guitar. Whether or not blazing by way of “Shock Me” or lighting up the stage along with his smoke-belching Les Paul, Frehley embodied the reckless, joyful spirit of rock and roll. Many years after his debut, his affect nonetheless echoes each time a child cranks up an amp and desires of the celebs.
