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Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley, co-founder and lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Kiss and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died following injuries sustained during a fall last month, according to a statement from his family. He was 74 years old.

Frehley’s family wrote in the statement: “We are completely devastated and heartbroken. In his final moments, we were fortunate to be able to surround him with loving, caring and peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his fond memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed on others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions and is beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will live on forever!

His longtime bandmates, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss, wrote in a statement: “We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative chapters of the band and its history. He is and always will be a part of the Kiss legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans all over the world.”

While Kiss, who performed in theatrical makeup and costumes, received little respect from music critics and the rock intelligentsia, their impact and influence on a generation of musicians and fans has been immense and lasting. The band’s songs were in many ways a gateway to their concerts and a larger-than-life mystique: in an era that predated MTV, their performances were almost overwhelmingly visual and experiential, with explosions, fire-spewing guitars and smoke, and fireworks. However, the mystique of Kiss was key: the faces of the band members were not revealed for more than a decade, by which time Frehley and drummer Peter Criss had left the band. Frehley was known as “Space Ace” and cultivated an otherworldly image.

Frehley joined co-founders Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss in late 1972 and remained with the band through its greatest eras: he left in 1982 to pursue a solo career, but rejoined when the original band reunited in 1996 for a lucrative reunion tour, and remained until 2002. He worked as a solo artist during the intervening years, with his band Frehley’s Comet and under his own name; In 1978, when all four members of Kiss released solo albums simultaneously, many fans felt that Frehley’s, which included his hit version of the song “New York Groove,” was the best.

Paul Daniel Frehley was born into a musical family in the Bronx borough of New York City and received an electric guitar as a Christmas gift in 1964. He never took lessons and never looked back: with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the Who as his main influences, he began playing in bands as a teenager and He supposedly acquired his nickname from friends due to his ability. to get dates with girls.

He dropped out of high school after one of his bands, Cathedral, started making money, but later returned and earned his diploma. He continued to play and by 1971 he was a member of Molimo, a group that signed with RCA Records and recorded several unreleased songs for the label.

But late the following year, a friend saw an ad in the Village Voice that turned out to be for the lead guitar position in the embryonic Kiss. Frehley famously went to the audition in Manhattan wearing one red sneaker and one orange sneaker. Stanley, Simmons and Criss were dismayed by his appearance, but impressed enough with his fiery lead guitar work, that they invited him to join a few weeks later. The band, preceded by Stanley and Simmons’ previous group, Wicked Lester, called themselves Kiss in January 1973 and soon, inspired by the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper, began wearing face paint and extravagant costumes for their concerts.

Kiss resisted the cynicism and disinterest of the snobbish New York music scene in its early months (Frehley worked as a taxi driver to pay the bills) but, crucially, hooked up with manager Bill Aucoin in September 1973, who began charting the band’s path to stardom with the band members.

The band released their self-titled debut album in February of the following year, which included some future favorites such as “Firehouse,” “Black Diamond,” and the Frehley composition “Cold Gin,” but that album and subsequent “Hotter Than Hell” and “Dressed to Kill” were only minor hits.

However, the 1975 live set “Kiss Alive!”, fueled by a supercharged version of the song “Rock and Roll All Night,” combined with memorable television appearances and Aucoin’s business prowess to propel the band to stardom. Its primary audience was teenagers, who were delighted by their parents’ mortified reactions to this rowdy, heavily made-up group of “freaks.” The band’s painted faces soon began appearing on jean jackets across America, and their iconic logo, with a pair of lightning bolt “S” stolen from David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era, on untold thousands of high school notebooks.

The band teamed up with Alice Cooper/Lou Reed producer Bob Ezrin for the next vital studio album, “Destroyer,” which became their biggest release to date. Ezrin’s elaborate production (and strategic use of session musicians) fueled classics like “Detroit Rock City” and “Shout It Out Loud,” and the band followed Cooper’s lead by including a sensitive (and image-defying) ballad, “Beth,” which was co-written and sung by Criss. The song quickly became the band’s most successful single.

“Destroyer” and the band’s increasingly elaborate concert productions (not to mention their extensive and well-marketed merchandise, which grew to include everything from comic books and Halloween costumes to transistor radios and trading cards) quickly turned them into one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Two more studio albums followed in quick succession, “Rock and Roll Over” and “Love Gun”, the latter featuring Frehley’s first lead vocal on “Shock Me” (which was inspired by a near-electrocution during a concert in Florida). Another live album, “Alive II”, was released in the fall of 1977 and included a portion of studio recordings, including Frehley’s second lead vocal, “Rocket Ride.”

The band’s anonymity was a big part of its appeal. “Onstage I’m Ace Frehley, and offstage I’m a kid from the Bronx,” Frehley told Rolling Stone in 1977. “I consider myself lucky in a way. Mick Jagger will always be Mick Jagger, but I can take off the makeup and know who I am.”

However, the swagger began to creep in, most notably in the form of the four solo albums the band released simultaneously in September 1978. Surprisingly, considering Stanley’s role as lead singer of Kiss and the all-star cast Simmons assembled for his album, fans considered Frehley’s to be the best of the lot. He played several instruments on the album, wrote or co-wrote most of its songs, and was accompanied by some of New York’s best session musicians, including drummer Anton Fig and bassist Will Lee, who would later join the house band for David Letterman’s late-night TV show, and production by Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss veteran Eddie Kramer. The album also included a hit single in its cover of the Russ Ballard composition “New York Groove.”

Kiss returned in 1979 with the album “Dynasty” and the disco-influenced hit single “I Was Made for Loving You,” but the backlash had begun long ago, and any adoption of disco by a rock band was considered sacrilege by most of the band’s fans. Criss and Frehley also had problems with the band’s musical direction and, not least, substance abuse, leading both to leave the band, in 1980 and 1982, respectively, although Stanley and Simmons continued the band with other musicians.

Frehley’s drug and alcohol abuse worsened, and in May 1983, he was arrested following a high-speed chase on the Bronx River Parkway in his 1981 DeLorean. He was charged with DUI, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident after crashing into four cars during the incident (thankfully no injuries). He spent two weeks in a hospital detox unit and was required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

He formed the solo group Frehley’s Comet and eventually signed to heavy metal powerhouse Megaforce Records, releasing a solid album (co-produced by Kramer) in the summer of 1987. The album featured songwriting collaborations with Kiss drummer Eric Carr and “Wild Thing” writer Chip Taylor, as well as a song about his arrest called “Rock Soldiers” which included the lyrics, “I cried, ‘I am invincible’ / Said I was way above the law / But my only emotion was just a lie / And now I’m glad I saw it.”

Released during heavy metal’s commercial heyday, the album was certified gold and relaunched Frehley’s career, although tours with Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper ended early, reportedly due to money issues; Furthermore, his sobriety did not last. The band continued for a couple more years before Frehley abandoned the name and went solo.

In 1996, he and Criss reunited with Kiss for a major reunion tour, and the group recorded the studio album, “Psycho Circus,” although Frehley contributed only one song and minimal instrumental work. The reunited Kiss continued to tour in the following years, putting together what was ultimately their first “Farewell Tour” in 2001 (Stanley and Simmons completed what is apparently Kiss’ final farewell tour in December 2023), and Frehley left in 2002.

He continued solo work, touring, and guest appearances over the next few years, releasing five albums between 2009 and 2024, working with fans such as Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, and Motley Crue guitarist John 5, along with Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander (who spent the entire summer of 1977 opening for Kiss) and even Stanley and Simmons. Their most recent album, “10,000 Volts,” was released in 2024.

Frehley published an autobiography, “No Regrets – A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir,” in 2011, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Kiss in 2014. According to Stanley and Simmons, he was invited to join Kiss for encores during the final tour, but declined, although Frehley disputed those accounts.

“I never set my sights low,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I’ve always believed that most people are ruined by the limitations they impose on themselves.”

Frehley is survived by his wife Jeanette, his daughter Monique, his brother Charles, his sister Nancy Salvner, his nieces Suncere Frehley and Julie Salvner, his nephews Sky Frehley and Andrew Salvner, his sister-in-law Michelanne and his brother-in-law Ron Salvner.