Rock lost one of its most iconic figures this week with the death of former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley at the age of 74. Born in the Bronx in 1951, he co-founded the band in 1973, taking on the mantle of The Spaceman. While Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s sharp business minds helped propel Kiss to stardom, Ace was the band’s true heart - the one a generation of rock’n’roll kids related to.
His wild personality and fondness for partying would see him clash with the more sober-minded Simmons and Stanley, and Ace parted ways with Kiss in 1982. He always insisted he chose to leave rather than was fired, though his solo career failed to scale the same heights. He would be back in Kiss when the original quartet reunited in 1996, though that union ended for the second and final time six years later.
