Ace Frehley

Ace Frehley ranks among the hard rock scene’s most pivotal guitarists to emerge during the 1970s. Serving as Kiss’s lead guitarist, he motivated legions of aspiring players to take up the instrument throughout that era, and by the following century virtually every active rock guitarist routinely cited Frehley’s tone and approach as a decisive influence. In the platform-boot-enhanced guise of Spaceman, he performed with Kiss from the band’s formation in 1973 until 1982, shaping a gritty, blues-inflected approach built around dense power chords, deep string bends, and pentatonic-based leads. After departing Kiss, he pursued a solo path that began with the 1987 album Frehley’s Comet. He rejoined the group in 1996 for a worldwide reunion trek, contributed to the 1998 release Psycho Circus, and remained through 2002. Solo activity resumed in 2009 via Anomaly. Having overcome a serious substance dependency during those years—an experience recounted in his 2011 memoir No Regrets: A Rock ’N’ Roll Memoir—Frehley entered a prolific phase throughout the 2010s, delivering acclaimed records including Space Invader (2014), Spaceman (2018), and 10,000 Volts (2024).

Born Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, he first handled a guitar after receiving an electric six-string on his fourteenth birthday in 1965. Already devoted to the Rolling Stones, he was profoundly affected by a multi-act concert he witnessed in N.Y.C. in early 1967 that included both the Who and Cream, strengthening his resolve to focus on rock guitar while sidelining an emerging interest in visual art. Soon afterward he joined neighborhood groups, absorbing inspiration from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, and began using the moniker “Ace.” Still seeking a breakthrough after several unsuccessful outfits, he responded in early 1973 to a newspaper advertisement seeking a guitarist for a theatrical hard-rock quartet.

Weeks following his audition, Frehley was selected as lead guitarist for the fledgling four-piece, completing the original Kiss lineup alongside bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley, and drummer Peter Criss. By the close of that year the makeup- and costume-clad ensemble had secured a deal with Casablanca Records, and by 1978 the band stood among the globe’s premier hard-rock acts. That same year Frehley issued his debut solo album simultaneously with solo efforts from Simmons, Stanley, and Criss; his record proved the strongest seller, highlighted by the hit “New York Groove.” Kiss enjoyed peak commercial dominance from 1975 to 1979, generating platinum albums and sold-out arenas until internal tensions surfaced amid the excesses of fame. Criss, Frehley’s closest ally in the group, exited in 1980 as the band attempted a pop-leaning direction that faltered. Frehley’s growing dissatisfaction fueled heavier drinking and drug use, culminating in his departure in 1982.

Within a couple of years after leaving Kiss, Ace assembled his own solo outfit, Frehley’s Comet. The band performed in New York clubs yet waited until 1987 to release its self-titled debut on Atlantic and Megaforce Records. Rather than extending the heavy-metal leanings of his 1978 solo effort, Frehley’s Comet aligned with the prevailing pop-metal sound of acts such as Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi, issuing two further studio albums—Second Sighting and Trouble Walkin’—plus the live EP Live + 1 by 1989. During this period Frehley revived his earlier graphic talents, experimenting with computer imagery that appeared in gallery exhibitions. Despite occasional public disputes with former Kiss colleagues in the early 1990s, all four original members reunited for a 1995 MTV Unplugged session in which Frehley and Criss sat in on several numbers. The performance’s success prompted a full-scale reunion of the classic lineup, complete with the makeup abandoned since 1983, launching the highly successful 1996–1997 Alive Worldwide Tour. While the reunion persisted, the original Kiss members recorded the new album Psycho Circus in 1998.

Frehley stayed with Kiss through the conclusion of their Farewell Tour—outlasting fellow original member Peter Criss, who departed in 2001—even though Simmons and Stanley soon reassembled the band with replacement musicians wearing the signature Spaceman and Catman designs. Ace kept busy with festival appearances such as Rocklahoma and guest spots alongside other artists, including contributions to the Plasmatics’ 2002 album Put Your Love In Me: Love Songs for the Apocalypse and Kathy Valentine’s 2005 release Light Years. In 2009 he returned with Anomaly on his Bronx Born Records imprint. Two years later he issued the autobiography No Regrets: A Rock ’n’ Roll Memoir, a candid chronicle of his battles with alcohol and cocaine alongside his musical journey. By 2013 he marked seven years of sobriety and devoted much of the year to appearances at horror, science-fiction, and pop-culture conventions.

In April 2014, following sustained advocacy from supporters, Kiss entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; four months afterward Frehley delivered Space Invader, a solo album adopting a heavier stance than Anomaly. Origins, Vol. 1 arrived in 2016 as an all-covers collection spotlighting material from Ace’s formative influences, encompassing Kiss tracks alongside new renditions of “Parasite” and “Cold Gin” as well as songs by Thin Lizzy and Cream. The next year Frehley shared the stage with Gene Simmons at a Hurricane Harvey benefit concert for the Children Matter organization in St. Paul, Minnesota—their first joint performance in more than sixteen years. In 2018 he released his eighth solo album, Spaceman, which included a power-pop take on Eddie Money’s “I Wanna Go Back” and the energetic single “Rockin’ with the Boys,” a track originating from Kiss’s 1970s era. A follow-up covers set, Origins, Vol. 2, surfaced in September 2020. December 2023 marked the conclusion of Kiss’s “End of the Road” tour with two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, presented as the group’s final performances. Frehley, however, continued without pause, issuing another solo record, 10,000 Volts, in February 2024.