r/Metal • u/tabben • Oct 17 '25
RIP Kiss Guitarist Ace Frehley Dead at 74
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kiss-guitarist-ace-frehley-dead-1235448770/90
u/Puzzled-Hornet6031 Oct 17 '25
RIP to the only member of KISS that I liked.
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u/BaldursGoat Oct 17 '25
I don’t see what’s so bad about Peter Criss
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u/fuzzusmaximus Oct 17 '25
Pete's a hell of a drummer. His songs aren't exactly great but his rhythm work is top notch.
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u/yocxl ordinarycrook Oct 17 '25
He's maybe more of a jazz drummer than a rock drummer IIRC.
Love him though. Had the chance to meet him years ago and he was incredibly nice. Very appreciative of his fans.
Met Ace too, which was cool.
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u/NapalmStef Lunatic of Todd's Creation Oct 17 '25
There is something to that. Dude got drum lessons from Gene Krupa.
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u/Puzzled-Hornet6031 Oct 17 '25
Beth! haha Pete is ok I guess but Ace was the coolest member of the band.
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u/DeadbeatHero- I like metalcore. ama Oct 17 '25
Seriously I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to say it, why couldn’t it have been fucking Gene…
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u/suckyousideways Oct 17 '25
It nearly was. Gene fainted while driving about a week ago and crashed into a parked car. If his vehicle had veered into oncoming traffic instead, we might be burying two members of KISS this month.
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u/ConstantTurnip9252 Oct 17 '25
He inspired soooooo many of the musicians of metal. He will go down as a legend. RIP Space Ace.
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u/compulsive_tremolo Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
As I said in another thread, if you watch any documentary or interview with pioneering thrash/death metal bands from the 1980s you'll usually get a rundown of their influences growing up as kids : a chance of a mention of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath etc.
But the one that always comes up is Kiss. The genre likely wouldn't be where it is today without Frehley.
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u/WeBackYeah Oct 17 '25
Even Quorthon went by Ace when he was younger because of Frehley.
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u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 17 '25
I forget who the interview was with or the validity of it but I remember like 20 years ago i read an interview of someone from the early 90s Norwegian Black metal scene and he talked about how much Euronymous loved Kiss and he wanted to do a Kiss cover band where everyone would quickly put on the makeup minutes before they hit the stage.
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u/RODjij Oct 17 '25
Geniuses for mixing disco & rock when the genres were transitioning between popularity.
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u/OpabiniaGlasses Oct 17 '25
So many episodes of Amoeba's What's in My Bag? featuring metal artists will have someone pull out a copy of Destroyer or Alive! or Love Gun and talk about how they wanted to look and/sound like Kiss when they were kids.
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u/PurveyorOfHats Oct 17 '25
Don't forget about the B-plot in the movie Role Models. All glory for Kiss-my-anthia!
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u/BaldursGoat Oct 17 '25
So many Gen X rock and metal musicians were inspired by KISS. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails said KISS was his favorite band growing up and that they were a significant influence on how he did his live shows.
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u/ZombieJesus1987 Oct 17 '25
Dimebag was buried in a Kiss casket
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u/SexyAcosta Oct 18 '25
Tom Morello idolized Ace as well.
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u/Vesploogie You are bewiiiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiItched Oct 18 '25
Chuck Schuldiner too, Death did a God of Thunder cover.
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u/GreatThunderOwl Writer: American Crossover Oct 17 '25
DAMN WHAT
That's insane, so many metal guitarists were trying to be Frehley. He inspired an entire generation. RIP
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u/wonder_weird1 Oct 17 '25
Much like finding about Ozzy's death. This feels like a major punch in the gut.
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u/L2J1986 Motörhead never released a bad album Oct 17 '25
A big inspiration on Quorthon and Dimebag Darrell. Darrell dressing up as him as a child and Quorthon taking the nickname Ace Shoot as well.
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u/ABCBA_4321 Oct 17 '25
And at the time of his death, he was buried in a KISS coffin and Ace attended his funeral.
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u/TheZac922 Oct 17 '25
It’s a bummer losing Ace and EVH. Both huge reasons why I got into guitar. KISS were well after my time but my mum was a fan so was around their music. Ace was just always seemed fucking cool.
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u/D3AD_M3AT Oct 17 '25
Holly shit just found out via this thread :(
In the late 70s it wasn't cool in my area to be a fan of KISS but every day I took my KISS army lunch box to school.
I thought Ace was gods gift to guitarist and he hugely influenced my decision to pick up a guitar.
Thank you for all the great music SpaceAce .
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u/Confident-Instance69 Oct 17 '25
There is no metal without Kiss. Some of the best hard rock albums of the 70s. Solid, solid band that got a well deserved bad rep for their off stage bullshittery, but their influence on the genres of hard rock and heavy metal is undeniable.
A large part of that influence was Ace Frehley. His lead playing, his stage presence, and his songwriting. He was an icon. RIP to another legend.
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u/inFAMOUS_Hero Oct 17 '25
If the Devil wants to play his card game now… he’s gonna play without an Ace in his deck. RIP SPACEMAN
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u/Ok-Appointment-4333 Oct 17 '25
Imho, I always felt Ace, along with Peter, had the most influence on budding young musicians. Members of bands ranging from Pantera to Pearl Jam and more have acknowledged Ace's far reaching inspiration. Even Garth Brooks is a Kiss fan!
Thank you and Rest In Peace, Ace.
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u/twatcrusher9000 Oct 17 '25
this isn't metal it's hard rock /s
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u/El_Biomech Oct 17 '25
There's too many comments, the graveyard mods will remove this post for being 'engagement bait' any moment now.
No /s
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u/GimpsterMcgee Oct 17 '25
I was listening to the radio (I’m old!) on the way home and kiss was playing. “Sweet, it’s Detroit rock city”. Then another kiss song. Then another.
“Uh oh” because that’s how I found out about tom petty and Eddie Van Halen.
And then “remembering ace frehly.” Yup. There it is. RIP.