Ace Frehley

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, FRAY-lee; April 27, 1951 – October 16, 2025) was an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional vocalist, and a founding member of the rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of the Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and originally played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982, before later rejoining in 1996 until his final departure in 2002.

After leaving Kiss in 1982, Frehley formed his own band, Frehley's Comet, and released two albums with the group. He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a reunion tour. Frehley's second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion of what was originally intended to be the band's farewell tour. Frehley's solo releases were commercially successful, with his 1978 debut studio album achieving platinum status. His most recent solo studio album, 10,000 Volts, was released in 2024. Frehley died in October 2025 after complications from a fall at his home.

Frehley was noted for his aggressive, atmospheric, and melodic guitar playing, and for the use of many "special effects" guitars, including a Gibson Les Paul guitar that emitted smoke from its neck humbucker pickup and produced spinning pyrotechnics and a custom Les Paul that emitted light based on the tempo of a song. Frehley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss. Guitar World magazine ranked him among the greatest metal guitarists of all time.

Early life, family and education

Paul Daniel Frehley was born on April 27, 1951, in The Bronx, New York City, the youngest of three children of Esther Anna (Hecht) and Carl Daniel 'Friebely' Frehley, an electrical engineer. His father, the son of Dutch immigrants, was from Pennsylvania. His mother was originally from North Carolina and of German and Cherokee descent.

The Frehleys were a musical family, and when he received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964, Paul immersed himself in learning the instrument. "I never went to music school; I never took a guitar lesson, but everybody in my family plays an instrument. My mother and father both played piano, his father was the church organist, and my brother and sister both played piano and acoustic guitar." He was always surrounded by music, and started playing guitar at age 13. Jimi Hendrix, Albert Lee, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, B. B. King, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and The Who were his main influences. Frehley also stated on more than one occasion that Peppy Castro of the Blues Magoos was a major guitar influence.

Frehley had a troubled childhood. He joined a local street gang at age 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. Even though he dropped out of high school after his band Cathedral started getting gigs, his girlfriend and family convinced him to return to school, finish and get his diploma, which he did.

He was a keen athlete, but a football injury ended that. He loved watching The Who and Cream when they played New York and it confirmed his love of music, which he said saved him by removing him from gang life.

Music career

Frehley began playing in local bands during high school. At age 18, he worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix.

Early career

Frehley's earliest bands included the Outrage, the Four Roses, King Kong, Honey (a cover band), the Magic People, and Molimo, who signed with and recorded for RCA Records. When Frehley's later band, Cathedral, began getting paying gigs, he dropped out of high school. At the insistence of his family and girlfriend, Frehley eventually returned and earned a diploma. After graduation, Frehley held a string of short-term jobs, including mail carrier, furniture deliverer, messenger, taxi driver, and liquor store delivery person.

Kiss

Frehley spent the early 1970s in a series of local bands including one called Molimo who recorded half an album for RCA in 1971. In late 1972, his friend, Chris Cassone, spotted an advertisement for a lead guitarist in The Village Voice and showed the ad to Frehley. Frehley went to 10 East 23rd Street above the Live Bait Bar and auditioned for Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (bass guitar), and Peter Criss (drums). Frehley showed up wearing one red and one orange sneaker and was less than impressive visually, but the band liked what they heard from his playing. About three weeks later the band named Frehley as their lead guitarist. By January 1973 the band came up with the name Kiss. Frehley designed the band's double-lightning-bolt logo, which was polished up by Stanley. The band quickly decided to paint their faces for live performances and Frehley decided to start painting silver stars on his eyes. When the group eventually decided to adopt stage personas to match their makeup and costumes, Frehley became Space Ace. Later his stage persona was also known as The Spaceman. Frehley stated that this persona was inspired by his interest in science fiction and space travel.

While Kiss spent their early days rehearsing and playing in empty clubs, Frehley worked as a part-time cab driver to pay bills. In September 1973, Kiss began to be managed by Bill Aucoin, and Frehley quit his cabbie job.

Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974 – Frehley was credited for writing two songs, "Love Theme from Kiss" (the only song co-written by the four original members) and a fan classic, "Cold Gin". Due to Frehley's lack of confidence in his own singing voice, however, Simmons performed the vocals. Frehley wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs over the next few years but did not record vocals on a song until "Shock Me" (inspired by his near-electrocution during a concert in Lakeland, Florida), which appeared on 1977's Love Gun.

As lead guitarist, Frehley was known for his frenetic, atmospheric playing, becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the 1970s and spawning a generation of new players. Frehley stated in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask that many guitarists have told him his playing on 1975's hit Alive! prompted them to pick up the instrument. Frehley is well recognized for having used Gibson Les Paul guitars, including his trademarked model conversion Les Paul Custom (that was designed and implemented by John Elder Robison, known as "Ampie", an audio engineer working with the band), which filled the stage with smoke during his live guitar solo.

Along with the three other Kiss members, Frehley released an eponymous solo album in 1978. His was the bestselling of the four, and the album's lone single—the Russ Ballard-written "New York Groove", originally recorded by Hello—reached the Top 20 in the United States.

His songwriting presence within the group increased in 1979. He contributed three songs for 1979's Dynasty and three for 1980's Unmasked. While this was not the most commercially successful time for Kiss in the United States, the band was beginning to take off in other countries (mostly in Australia, where Dynasty and Unmasked are their biggest-selling albums). In 1981, a star was named after Frehley in the International Star Registry.

Even as his songwriting role within Kiss was increasing, Frehley found himself increasingly at odds with the musical direction of the band. After Peter Criss was voted out of Kiss in 1980, Frehley was often outvoted 2–1 in band decisions, as replacement drummer Eric Carr was not a partner in Kiss and had no vote. Frehley's participation in the recording of 1981's Music from "The Elder" was far more limited than with previous albums. This was in large part due to his unhappiness with the band's decision to create a concept album rather than a straightforward rock album.

By 1982, Frehley decided he wanted to leave the group, declining to sign a $15 million contract. He would later detail that “We were just constantly busy, and the drugs and the alcohol and all the partying in conjunction with that type of schedule just started to get to me. By the early ‘80s I just wanted to jump off the roller coaster because I thought I was going to crash.” He appeared on the covers for the 1982 releases Killers and Creatures of the Night, but he had no involvement with Killers, and minimal (no musical) input on Creatures of the Night. Frehley's last appearances with the band were in the music video for "I Love It Loud", a series of European promotional appearances in November 1982, and a band interview with MTV promoting their 10th anniversary world tour.