Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist of the band Kiss, who often performed in white-and-silver face makeup and sold millions of records during his two tenures with the band — from 1973 to 1982, and then from 1996 to 2002 — died on Thursday in Morristown, N.J. He was 74.
A statement from his family said the cause was a recent fall at his home.
A consummate showman, like all the members of Kiss, Mr. Frehley 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 assistance from the guitarist Paul Stanley).
With Mr. Stanley, the bassist Gene Simmons and the drummer Peter Criss, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
“Out of the four founding members of Kiss, I definitely have been the most successful solo artist,” Mr. Frehley bragged in a 2024 interview with the website Antihero. That was true largely because of his 1978 single “New York Groove,” an enduring glam-rock anthem. His other solo projects included the band Frehley’s Comet.
Paul Daniel Frehley was born in the Bronx on April 27, 1951, and began playing guitar at age 13. He was given the nickname Ace when he was 16 by the drummer in one of his early bands in gratitude for setting him up with attractive dates. In the early days of Kiss, Mr. Frehley started using the nickname full time to avoid confusion with Mr. Stanley.
During Mr. Frehley’s original tenure with Kiss, the band released 11 albums, both studio and live, that went gold or platinum in the United States.
He is survived by his wife, Jeanette; his daughter, Monique; his brother, Charles; and his sister, Nancy Salvner.
A complete obituary will be published soon.
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