The rock world has faced a heartbreaking series of losses in 2025, from Garth Hudson to Ozzy Osbourne, and now Ace Frehley, the trailblazing, cosmic-themed guitarist who helped define the sound and spectacle of KISS.
Frehley died on October 16 after suffering a fall at his home in Morristown, New Jersey. The Morris County Medical Examiner ruled his death an accident caused by blunt-force trauma. He was 74.
Frehley, born Paul Daniel Frehley in the Bronx, was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City, his longtime manager John Ostrosky confirmed to the New York Post. His passing marks the end of an era for the original KISS lineup, a group whose explosive theatrics, comic-book personas, and pioneering brand of hard rock reshaped American music in the 1970s.
Over the weekend, surviving founding members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss took the stage in Las Vegas for their first performance since Frehley’s death. The show, part of the “KISS Kruise: Landlocked in Vegas” fan event, opened on a somber, reflective note.
Before the music began, Stanley stepped forward to acknowledge the Spaceman’s legacy:
“Obviously, before we get going—and we're going to have an awesome time—but before we get going, we just wanted to take a moment to think about somebody who was at the foundation of this band.”
Fans had been given electric candles upon arrival, and Stanley asked the crowd to raise them high as a tribute to their fallen co-founder.
The emotional frontman continued:
“And we're talking about Ace. So, we certainly had differences, but that's what family is about. And why don't we take a moment, a little quiet, to think about him looking down on us—from [the planet] Jendell, probably—and let's have a moment for Ace. Candles up.”
The audience fell silent, honoring a musician whose guitar work, songwriting, and futuristic persona helped propel KISS from New York clubs to global arenas. Only after the moment of reflection did the band launch into its set.
Watch the band’s heartfelt tribute to Frehley in the video below:
The weekend-long event, held November 14–16 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, celebrated KISS’s five decades together and the 50th anniversary of the KISS Army. Alongside unplugged sets from the band, the lineup included appearances by Quiet Riot, Sebastian Bach, Bruce Kulick, and others—musicians whose own work was shaped by the hard-rock blueprint KISS helped create.
Frehley’s family released a statement soon after his passing, sharing the depth of their grief:
“In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers, and intentions as he left this earth.”
Frehley is survived by his daughter, Monique, and several close family members who described him as a devoted father, a gentle presence, and an artist whose humor never faded. They thanked fans around the world for the outpouring of love, noting that the support has brought comfort during an unimaginably difficult time.
Simmons and Stanley also issued a written tribute, acknowledging both Frehley’s creativity and his foundational role in the band’s earliest triumphs:
“[A]n essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss’s legacy.”
Frehley’s imprint on KISS is impossible to overstate. When he answered a newspaper ad placed by Simmons and Stanley in 1973, he arrived at the audition wearing mismatched sneakers, a moment that would later inspire early band iconography.
His melodic yet aggressive playing powered classics such as “Shock Me,” “Cold Gin,” and “Parasite,” and his Spaceman persona became one of the group’s most recognizable characters.
You can watch Frehley’s performance at Sony Hall here:
- YouTubeJPL Productions
He appeared on KISS’s first nine studio albums, including Destroyer and Love Gun, and returned for the band’s 1998 reunion record Psycho Circus. His songwriting and guitar work also fueled his 1978 solo album, which became the most commercially successful of the four individual KISS solo releases.
Reflecting on that creative period earlier this year, Frehley said:
“The success of my solo album made me realize that I was more creative away from Paul, Gene, and Peter than I was around them.”
Though his relationship with his bandmates was often turbulent and marked by creative clashes, struggles with substance use, and long stretches apart, Frehley always acknowledged the bond they shared as artists who built something bigger than themselves.
As he put it:
“We were like family, and within a family, there’s always going to be disagreements. The friction for the most part was positive.”
Frehley left KISS in 1982, rejoined in 1996 for the original lineup’s reunion tour, and parted ways again in 2002 after their first “farewell” run. Guitarist Tommy Thayer has performed as the Spaceman since then. During Frehley’s years outside the band, he launched his own group, Frehley’s Comet, whose self-titled 1987 album introduced him to a new generation of fans.
Fans around the world quickly took to social media to honor the guitarist’s legacy:
In October, Frehley canceled the remaining dates of his planned 2025 tour due to undisclosed medical issues. His passing came nearly two weeks after a second fall at his home, after which he was placed on life support following a brain bleed. His family ultimately made the decision to remove him from the ventilator.
Despite the difficulties, Frehley and KISS remained intertwined—musically, culturally, and spiritually. Their contributions shaped stadium rock, makeup-driven camp theatricality, and the entire concept of rock-and-roll spectacle.
At the Las Vegas tribute, as fans lifted their candles to the sky, that legacy felt unmistakable. Ace Frehley was a pioneer, a showman, and a guitarist whose riffs will echo long after the lights fade.
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