Ace Frehley, Lead Guitarist of Kiss, Dies at 74

Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss, whose powerful sound, onstage theatrics and iconic makeup created one of the most popular and revolutionary bands of all time, died Thursday at age 74, his family announced.

A representative for Frehley, Lori Lousararian, attributed his death to a recent fall at his home, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

“We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” Frehley’s family said in a statement, adding that their loving and caring words and prayers surrounded him in his final moments.

“The magnitude of his passing is epic in scale and beyond comprehension. As we reflect on all of his incredible accomplishments, Ace’s memory will live on forever!”

Kiss burst onto the scene in the 1970s with a sound and look widely recognized as hard rock and glam rock, given their black and white face paint, elaborate black and silver leather costumes, and onstage pyrotechnics.

He was also considered a precursor of heavy metal.

Hits from 1975, like the party anthem “Rock and Roll All Nite” and the concert album “Alive!” have become rock classics.

Their 26 albums have gone gold, selling at least 500,000 copies in the United States, the most of any American band, and 14 have gone platinum, selling 1 million or more, although some of these records arrived after Frehley left the group.

Frehley, singer and bassist Gene Simmons, guitarist Paul Stanley and drummer Peter Criss each had their own look and alter ego. With a star painted on his face, Frehley was also known as “Spaceman.”

He remained with Kiss during its peak in the 1970s and joined the group’s reunion in the 1990s. As a solo artist, he recorded the hit “New York Groove” in 1978.

Paul Daniel Frehley was born in the Bronx borough of New York on April 27, 1951.

Playing guitar as a teenager, he found his calling after seeing The Who and Cream in concert, and after joining several bands, he responded to a newspaper ad for a band looking for a “flashy and capable” guitarist, Rolling Stone said.

He found Simmons, Stanley and Criss in their rehearsal space in Queens.