Ace Frehley Tickets

Better known as Ace Frehley, he is an American guitarist best known as an original member and lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss founded by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. He was none other than Paul Daniel Frehley (born April 27, 1951) who took on the persona of 'Space Ace' when the band adopted costumes and theatrics. Frehley played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982.

After leaving Kiss, Frehley embarked on a moderately successful solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour. His second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion of the band's Farewell Tour. He has since resumed his solo career although to date, he has not released any new music.

Frehley was born and raised in The Bronx. As a youth, Frehley was in a New York street gang called The Duckies with Steven Edward Duren. The Frehleys were a musical family, and when Ace received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964, he immersed himself in learning the instrument. Frehley has cited guitarists such as Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck as his major musical influences.

Frehley spent the early 1970s in a series of bands, none of which achieved any success. In late 1972, his best friend, Bob McAdams, spotted an advertisement for a lead guitarist in the Village Voice and showed the ad to Ace. Ace auditioned for the trio of Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (bass guitar) and Peter Criss (drums). By January 1973, the unnamed band decided on a name - Kiss. Frehley designed the band's unique, double-lightning-bolt logo. The band quickly decided to paint their faces for live performances, and Frehley decided to start painting silver stars on his eyes. When the group eventually decided to adopt stage personas to go with their makeup designs, Frehley became Space Ace, an alien visitor from the planet of Jendell.

While Kiss spent their early days rehearsing and playing in empty clubs, Frehley took a job as a part-time cab driver to pay his bills. In September 1973, Kiss began to receive a salary from new manager Bill Aucoin. This enabled Frehley to quit his job.

Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974?Frehley's sole songwriting contribution was Cold Gin. Due to Frehley's lack of confidence in his own singing voice, however, the vocals were performed by Simmons. Frehley wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs over the next few years but didn't record his vocals on a song until Shock Me, which appeared on 1977's Love Gun.

As lead guitarist, Frehley was known for his frenetic, atmospheric playing, becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the 70s and spawning a generation of new players. Indeed, Frehley stated in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask that many guitarists have told him his playing on 1975's hit Alive! which prompted them to pick up the instrument.

Along with the three other Kiss members, Frehley released an eponymous solo album in 1978. His was the best-selling of the four, and the album's lone single of the Russ Ballard written New York Groove reached the Top 20 in the United States.Although Frehley was no longer a legal member of Kiss as of March 1983, he retained a one-quarter share in the Kiss partnership until 1985. Wanting to avoid any potential legal or monetary entanglements, Frehley did not actively begin his solo career until he was out of the partnership.

In 1984, Frehley started his post-Kiss solo career by assembling a band. The group, whose name alternated between 'Ace Frehley' and Frehley's Comet, recorded a series of demos throughout 1984 and 1985. The band performed their first ever live show at S.I.R. Studios in New York City, NY on November 20, 1984.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at securing a recording contract, the group eventually signed to Megaforce Records and released their first album, Frehley's Comet, on July 7, 1987. The album was co-produced by Eddie Kramer, who had produced not only a number of Kiss albums.

Frehley's Comet, a mixture of hard rock and pop metal, was a successful return to the music scene for Frehley. The album peaked at #43 on the Billboard 200 (selling nearly 500,000 copies), and the single, Rock Soldiers, reached #27 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Rock Soldiers was an autobiographic song, written partially about Frehley's April 1982 car accident. The video for Rock Soldiers received moderate airplay on MTV.

He has also attempted acting making his debut in 2005 in Remedy, an independent crime drama. Frehley remains the only original KISS band member not inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Frehley stated in a recent interview with Eddie Trunk that he will release his new solo album in early 2008. He also played his first solo show in 6 years on October 29, 2007 at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY.