Ace Frehley of Kiss Dies at 74 After Brain Hemorrhage

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Ace Frehley of Kiss Dies at 74 After Brain Hemorrhage
Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

Kiss star Ace Frehley is dead. The guitarist died after a brain hemorrhage, 74 years old. "We are completely crushed and devastated", the family writes in a statement.

"During his last moments, we were lucky to be able to surround him with love, care, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers, and goodwill as he left this earth,” the family writes in the statement.

On Thursday evening, Swedish time, reports emerged that Ace Frehley received life-sustaining care in a respirator after a brain hemorrhage. He was reported to have suffered a brain hemorrhage after falling in his studio a few weeks ago, which led to him canceling his tour.

Ace Frehley was born on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York. He learned to play the guitar himself in his teens.

I've never taken a lesson, and my sense of melody comes from when I sang in the church choir. So what I have can't be taught. You have to have it within you. Either you have it – or you have nothing at all, said Frehley in an interview with Guitar World in 2024.

Founded Kiss

In 1973, he co-founded the rock band Kiss along with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss. Frehley got the nickname Spaceman or Space Ace.

One of many iconic rock moments came on December 12, 1976, during a concert in Lakeland, Florida, when Frehley received a severe electric shock when he touched a faulty grounded metal railing on stage – an incident that nearly cost him his life. He describes in his autobiography "No regrets" how everything went black and he thought he died on stage.

Despite the accident, he returned ten minutes later to finish the concert, to the audience's jubilation.

That I got electrified and didn't fall forward was a miracle. It must have been angels pushing me back, said Frehley much later in an interview with Louder Sound.

Returned to Kiss

The incident inspired him to write the song "Shock me" for the album "Love gun" (1977) – the first Kiss song he sang on himself.

Frehley played with Kiss during their heyday until 1982 but left the band due to drug problems and conflicts with the band's front figures Stanley and Simmons. He returned to Kiss in 1996 for a reunion tour and stayed until 2002.

The band has since played in several different constellations and made a farewell concert in New York on December 2, 2023, after what was said to be a final tour. Then Ace Frehley was missing from the stage, according to his own statement due to Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons' "control needs".

The idea is that Kiss will reunite for a concert in Las Vegas in November, when the fan club Kiss Army turns 50. But it was not intended that Ace Frehley would be part of that performance.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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