Ace Frehley

Paul Daniel Frehley was born in the Bronx, New York on April 27, 1951.  The youngest of 3 children, Ace was surrounded by music.  Both of his parents and his sister play the piano, and his brother went on to be a classical guitarist.  Ace started to play the guitar when he was 13.  In his teen years, he was not very interested in school.  He was kicked out of 2 high schools, and dropped out of the third.

In 1969, Ace joined a band called Magic People. They played in the local bar scene.  He also played for other bands including The Muff Divers, The Exterminators, and Four Roses.  He also recorded with a band called Millemo, but the tracks were never released.

In 1973, Ace answered an ad in a magazine called The Village Voice for a band looking for a guitarist.  A week after his audition he became a member of KISS.  

The band started out playing in local clubs around New York, all the while refining their style, and playing with their stage persona.  It was during this time that Ace created his spaceman look.  Then one night after playing at the Hotel Diplomat, they met Bill Aucoin.  He promised them a record deal with-in two weeks.

The band's first self-titled album was released in 1974.  It contained a song written by Ace (Cold Gin).  Their second album, Hotter Than Hell, was released the same year.

In 1975, the band released their next album.  It too contained several songs written by Ace.  Their following album, released in 1977 featured not only Ace's amazing guitar work, but also his first lead vocal spot with the song Shock Me.  He recorded the song in the dark while lying on his back because he was so nervous and didn't want anyone to see him.

It was during this time that Frehley began to have substantial alcohol and drug problems.  The more popular the band became, the more he allowed himself to indulge in the excess that came with being a rock and roll musician.  He even missed some of the band's recording sessions in 1976 when they were recording Destroyer.  The producer eventually replaced him on a couple of tracks.

During the recording of Alive ll, the producer was forced to replace Ace with Bob Kulick on all of the songs except Rocket Ride due to Ace's inebriation.  Ace's relationship with the rest of the band became more and more strained due to his drinking.  By the time the band began to tour in promotion of the album Dynasty, released in 1979, none of the band were speaking to each other.

Ace left the band in 1982, just after a promotional tour of Creatures of the Night.  His picture is featured on the cover, but he never played on the album.  He went on to pursue his solo career.  Ace kept a low profile until 1985, when he began to tour clubs along the east coast of the US.  He signed a record deal with Bronze Records, but he never released an album with the company because the the label folded.

In 1987, he went on to sign a deal with Megaforce Records, who had a distribution deal with Atlantic Records.  He released Frehley's Comet, with moderate success. Each subsequent release however seemed to taper off, and he lost his contract following the release of Trouble Walkin' in 1989.

In late 1994, Ace toured on the Bad Boys of KISS tour.

In 1995, Ace was inducted onto the Hollywood Rock Walk.  He was inducted by himself because when KISS was inducted in 1993, members Gene and Paul were said to threaten to boycott the ceremony if he was there.  Things calmed down a bit by 1995 when the band held their own KISS conventions featuring q&a and song sets that would allow the fans to hear whatever they wanted.

In 1995, the band was invited by MTV to perform in their Unplugged series.  The entire band played together including Ace.  The Unplugged Special brought the band back together, and was the catalyst for the band's decision to stay together.  They went through weight training, and practice again.  Ace had to re-learn all the solos and leads.  By 1996, they were ready, and made a surprise appearance at the 1996 Grammy Awards before starting on their reunion tour in June  of the same year.

Following the tour which ended in 1997, the band went into the studio and recorded Psycho Circus which was released in September of 1998, followed by a tour to promote the album.