ZUM TOD DES US-AMERIKANISCHEN ROCK-GITARRISTEN ACE FREHLEY (KISS)

Der am 27. April 1951 in New York City geborene Rock-Gitarrist Paul Daniel «Ace» Frehley (Bild) ist am 16. Oktober 2025 in Morristown (New Jersey) gestorben. Er war Mitbegründer und ehemaliger Leadgitarrist der Hard-Rock-Band KISS sowie Gründer und Namensgeber der Gruppe Frehley’s Comet. Mit KISS wurde er in die Rock-and-Roll-Hall-of-Fame aufgenommen. Ace Frehley gilt als einer der einflussreichsten Rock-Gitarristen, den zahlreiche später berühmt gewordene Musiker als wichtige Inspiration nennen. (*) Mit mehr als 100 Millionen weltweit verkauften Alben zählt die Gruppe KISS zu den erfolgreichsten Rock-Bands.

Ace Frehley mit KISS, 2000 - Foto: Aca2001, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Aca2001?uselang=de - Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.de - Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KISS_lead_guitarist_Ace_Frehley_performing_with_KISS_during_their_Farewell_Tour_in_Bakersfield,_CA.jpg?uselang=de

Bild: Ace Frehley mit KISS, 2000 – Foto: Aca2001, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Aca2001?uselang=de – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.de – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KISS_lead_guitarist_Ace_Frehley_performing_with_KISS_during_their_Farewell_Tour_in_Bakersfield,_CA.jpg?uselang=de

Farewell, Ace Frehley: The Kiss Spaceman Who Plugged Us In and Kept Us High

The band’s legendary guitarist had more Kiss mystique than anyone else on this or any other planet.

The world is pouring out some cold gin for the late, great Ace Frehley, the guitar spaceman of Kiss. Frehley died last night from complications after a fall, at 74. He summed up the archetypal Seventies guitar hero if anyone did — the space cadet from the planet Jendell. He epitomized the band’s comic-book superhero persona, with his silver makeup, his platform space boots, his charismatic DGAF slouch. But his sound was primal rock power, blasting his Les Paul through a Marshall stack for the deranged solos of “Shock Me,” “Strange Ways,” and “She.” The most beloved native son of Jendell is coming home.

Rob Sheffield

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ace-frehley-kiss-tribute-1235449402

‘Godspeed, Ace’: Ace Frehley Mourned by KISS Bandmate Gene Simmons, Bret Michaels, Tom Morello, Pearl Jam & More

The Rock Hall-inducted band remembered the axe-man as the “essential and irreplaceable rock soldier,” and paid tribute with the icon photo of a smoldering Frehley. “We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley,” reads a social post. “He was an 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. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world.”

Mackenzie Cummings-Grady

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/ace-frehley-death-reaction-kiss-1236091535

Ace Frehley, Kiss Guitarist and Founding Member, Is Dead at 74

Mr. Frehley, who often performed in white-and-silver face makeup as the group sold millions of records during his two tenures with it, from 1973 to 1982 and then from 1996 to 2002, was a consummate showman, like all the members of Kiss. He was known for playing guitars rigged with pyrotechnic effects and for his distinctive stage persona: He was known as “the Spaceman” or “Space Ace” because of the silver stars on his face. He also designed the band’s logo, with its lightning-bolt letters.

Gavin Edwards

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/arts/music/ace-frehley-dead.html

Ace Frehley, founding guitarist with theatrical rock band Kiss, dies at 74

In his alter ego as the Spaceman, Frehley played with the original incarnation of Kiss for less than a decade, from 1973 — when he formed the group in New York with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss — until 1982, when he quit not long after Criss left. Yet he was instrumental to the creation of the band’s stomping and glittery sound as heard in songs like “Detroit Rock City,” “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Strutter” and “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” In the late ’70s, those hits — along with Kiss’ over-the-top live show — made the group an inescapable pop-cultural presence seen in comic books and on lunch boxes; today the group is widely viewed as a pioneer of rock ’n’ roll merchandising.

Mikael Wood

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2025-10-16/ace-frehley-kiss-dead-74

Ace Frehley’s 10 Greatest Musical Moments: With Kiss and Solo

For a group that performed in garish makeup and costumes amid explosions and fire-breathing, it’s perhaps not surprising that Kiss did not often get much respect as musicians. Yet the band’s co-founder and lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, who passed away Thursday after suffering injuries in a fall last month, was a dyed-in-the-wool musician. He was born to a family of musicians, received an electric guitar as a 13-year-old and never stopped playing — his last concert took place just over a month ago.

A.D. Amorosi

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/ace-frehley-10-greatest-musical-moments-kiss-1236555497

He became known for virtuosic solos infused with bluesy grit and hard rock bite, inspiring future stars such as Slash, Tom Morello, John 5, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready

«My style is unorthodox because I never took guitar lessons,» he once told Classic Rock. «I play differently to how a schooled musician would. If it sounds good, do it. That’s always been my motto. That’s rock ’n‘ roll.»

Annie Zaleski

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/16/nx-s1-5577128/ace-frehley-lead-guitarist-in-kiss-dies-at-74

Without Ace Frehley, Kiss could not have achieved their extraordinary greatness

Frehley – born Paul; Ace was the character in Kiss – was a Bronx kid, the proud delinquent in a middle-class family, who first played an electric guitar aged 12, and had his own Fender and Marshall setup by 14. At 21, he successfully auditioned for Kiss, and by 24 he was one of the biggest stars in the US. His bludgeoning guitar was central to the Kiss sound – the “monster plod”, that behind-the-beat throb with the weight of a dinosaur – and he was the most proficient musician in the original Kiss lineup, by a distance: he could be a charismatic lead guitarist, adding instrumental flash to the pyrotechnics.

Michael Hann

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/oct/17/ace-frehley-kiss-guitarist-greatness

Muere ‘Space Ace’ Frehley, el guitarrista que puso fuegos artificiales a los primeros años de Kiss

El músico, fallecido a los 74 años, fundó la influyente banda de hard rock a principios de los 70, que abandonó una década después entre roces por el abuso de drogas y desencuentros con la fama.

Alejandro Santos Cid

https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-10-17/muere-space-ace-frehley-el-guitarrista-que-puso-fuegos-artificiales-a-los-primeros-anos-de-kiss.html

Morto Ace Frehley dei Kiss, chitarrista e membro fondatore della band

La formazione originale dei Kiss, celebri per successi come Rock and roll all nite e I was made for lovin’ you, comprendeva, oltre a Frehley, il cantante e chitarrista Paul Stanley, il bassista Gene Simmons e il batterista Peter Criss. I membri della band interpretavano personaggi ispirati ai fumetti: Frehley era noto come «Space Ace» o «The Spaceman». Il musicista newyorkese sperimentava spesso con materiali pirotecnici, facendo fumare e illuminare le chitarre e lanciando razzi dallo strumento.

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2025/10/17/news/morto_ace_frehley_chitarrista_e_membro_fondatore_dei_kiss-424918280

Ace Frehley, guitariste du groupe de rock Kiss, est mort

Agé de 74 ans, il est le premier des quatre membres fondateurs de la légendaire formation glam rock des années 1970 à disparaître. Le quatuor, qui s’est construit un style inimitable grâce notamment à son maquillage, a influencé un grand nombre d’autres groupes.

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2025/10/17/ace-frehley-guitariste-du-groupe-de-rock-kiss-est-mort_6647450_3382.html

Der Rock-Soldat

Man müsste an diesem Tag, an dem der Tod des wunderbar seltsamen Gitarristen Ace Frehley verkündet wurde und die Welt also einen weiteren ihrer besonders ungewöhnlichen Musiker verloren hat, vielleicht noch mal in „New York Groove“ reinhören. 1978 erschienen. Es steckt so viel Leichtigkeit in diesem Stück Musik. Tolles Arrangement auch: Stampfbassdrum und klackernde, von einem Phaser-Effekt verzogene Ticki-Tacka-Gitarre zunächst. Und dann diese eher kraftvoll als fein federnden Bo-Didley-Synkopen und der sektlaunige Gesang. In Anspruch und Lebenslust alles ein wenig an Ziggy Stardust trainiert, dem Chef-Alien des Jahrzehnts.

Jakob Biazza

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/ace-frehley-kiss-gitarrist-tot-nachruf-li.3326961?reduced=true

Der Mann aus dem Weltraum

Blitze um die Augen, Ausbrüche an der Gitarre: Bei den Shows von Kiss war er eher eine Seitenfigur, und doch prägte Ace Frehley mit seinen explosiven Soli den Sound der Band.

Andreas Bernard

https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/kiss-gitarristen-ace-frehley-der-mann-aus-dem-weltraum-ein-nachruf-a-c4763f63-acea-46f0-9d58-9584f282c279

Audios / Videos:

Diverse

https://www.youtube.com/officialacefrehley

KISS – I Was Made For Lovin‘ You