Ace Frehley

If you know more information about Ace Frehley help us to improve this page

Birthday:

27 April 1951, The Bronx, New York, USA

Birth Name:

Paul Daniel Frehley

Height:

185 cm

Former lead guitarist for hard rock super group KISS, best known for his "space ace" character, on stage stagger, cackling laugh and smoking guitar effects. Frehley was born Paul Daniel Frehley on April 27th, 1951 in The Bronx, New York City and received his first electric guitar at age 14. A creative and gifted teenager, he counts The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin as early influences on his musical tastes.Frehley answered a newspaper ad in early 1973 for a then-unnamed group seeking a lead guitarist with "flash and balls", and successfully auditioned in front of bassist Gene Simmons and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, to become the fourth member of what would become KISS. Soon after, the group was joined by drummer Peter Criss and the four set about launching themselves. After mediocre success from their first three albums, "Kiss Alive" (a double live album) was released in 1975, and the rocket ride had begun! Kiss were very successful from 1975 until 1979, however, cracks appeared in the band and Peter Criss left the group in 1980, followed by Frehley in 1982.Frehley put together his own band ("Frehleys Comet") and they regularly toured the New York City club circuit and released several albums, predominantly purchased by KISS fans still loyal to Ace! However, after several years of icy relations between ex-members Frehley / Criss and band founders Simmons / Stanley, all four original members reunited for a 1995 MTV Unplugged Special that was met with huge interest. This prompted a full-blown reunion tour (Kiss - Alive Worldwide) that was the biggest grossing tour of 1996/97!! Met with such keen enthusiasm from fans, the band toured relentlessly into the new century, however, Peter Criss was not satisfied with his salary, and was replaced by drummer Eric Singer, in 2001. Frehley stuck around another year or so, however, the old issues of Ace's unreliability caught up with him once again, and he once more exited the band, to be replaced by Tommy Thayer.Most recently, Ace had a small part in the gangster film Remedy (2005). Show less «

I remember taking the cassette and smashing it against a wall" - to Guitar World magazine in 1993, describing his negative response to the 1...Show more »

I remember taking the cassette and smashing it against a wall" - to Guitar World magazine in 1993, describing his negative response to the 1981 KISS album, "Music From the Elder. Show less «

I eat, sleep, and drink my character. It is my fantasy to go to another planet. By the time I'm 40, interplanetary travel will be common. No...Show more »

I eat, sleep, and drink my character. It is my fantasy to go to another planet. By the time I'm 40, interplanetary travel will be common. Nobody will want to talk to me at that age, anyway. Show less «

That's not my idea of what KISS is. Maybe that's his idea. You know, they say things like that just to cover their asses, so that they can c...Show more »

That's not my idea of what KISS is. Maybe that's his idea. You know, they say things like that just to cover their asses, so that they can carry on and still say it's KISS. That's all that is: smoke. [when asked if he agrees with Paul Stanley about the idea of KISS continuing without any of the original members]. Show less «

I knew I was destined to do a solo album, but when I did that first album in 1978, I had no idea it was going to be that well received.