Ace Frehley, the founding guitarist of KISS, passed away this Thursday. He was 74 years old.
A statement issued by the musician’s family and quoted by Billboard reads: “We are completely devastated and heartbroken. We cherish all of his best memories, his laughter and celebrate his virtues and the kindness he gave to others. The magnitude of his death is of epic proportions and beyond comprehension. His incredible achievements in life and Ace’s memory will live on forever!”
The website “TMZ” had reported this Thursday that Frehley was hospitalized, connected to basic life support machines following a brain hemorrhage caused by a fall in the studio a few weeks ago.
The musician canceled a show in California, and at the time the incident was described as minor and resulted in a “trip to the hospital”. “He is fine, but the doctors insist that he not travel,” Frehley said on social media. Two weeks later, all upcoming appointments would be canceled “due to the persistence of some medical problems”.
Frehley was a core member of KISS from the band’s formation in 1973 until 1982, when he left the group. He would return in 1996, when the group reunited, and remained with it until 2002. Since then, he has only returned on special occasions.
It was during the period in which the band spent the most time that KISS achieved greater success, thanks to albums such as “Love Gun” and “Alive II”, both from 1977, and “Dynasty”, from 1979. In the group, where all members also responded to a ‘nickname’, Ace Frehley was “Spaceman” or “Space Ace”.
There are few KISS songs written by him and performed by him, compared to the catalog of Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons, with ‘Shock Me’, from 1977, being one of his most memorable songs in the group.
Frehley did not participate in the two concerts that KISS gave in Portuguese lands, in 1983 at Dramático de Cascais and in 2018 at Parque dos Poetas, in Oeiras.
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