The original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley passed away on October 16 at the age of 74, the news was shared by his family as reported by Variety. A week ago, his social media announced that "due to some ongoing medical issues", he had to cancel the remaining dates of his current tour. TMZ reported that he had suffered a fall in his studio at the time and suffered a brain bleed. He was on life support and placed on a ventilator after the accident but according to their sources he hadn't gotten better and his family was considering turning off support. Read Ace Frehley's family statement about his death “We are completely devastated and heartbroken. In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth. We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!” Ace was one of the most influential guitar players of all time, a crucial part of the success of Kiss in the early days of the band. He helped to form Kiss alongside Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss in New Yor City back in 1973. He was part of the band until 1982 when he decided to leave and returned from 1996 to 2002. His first solo album, released in 1978 in the same day the other members of the band also released theirs, was the most succesful one from the four. It had songs like "New York Groove" and "Rip It Out". After Kiss he formed Frehley's Comet, releasing two albums and then focused on his solo career. His final album was "10,000 Volts", released in 2024 but he was currently working on his third covers album "Origins Vol. 3", which will be probably released in the future. How Ace got his nickname https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DU51bx2GCk Well, like almost all the rest of the world, his nickname “Ace” was created by his friends in school, because of his incredible ability to get dates with girls for his friends. He attended the DeWitt Clinton High School, which was located on Mosholu Parkway and the Theodore Roosevelt High School on Fordham Road. The nickname was eventually useful in Kiss since there was already another Paul in the band, so Frehley adopted “Ace” as his first name. The guitarist told the story of his nickname in an interview with Paul Guy in 1997. “I got nicknamed Ace in high school. (It was from the) drummer in my band when I was about 16, cause he was shy, you know. We used to play gigs on the weekends, and I always used to set him up with girls. And one day he just came up to me, I’d set him up with a beautiful girl. I was with her friend, and they were both really cute.” “He said to me, wow, you’re such a fucking ace, I really appreciate it, you know? And it kind of stuck and eventually everybody started calling me Ace. Then when I went to audition for Kiss, and I joined the group,. My real name is Paul, and every time Peter and Gene would say Paul, both me and Paul would turn around. So I said, this isn’t going to work. Call me by my nickname,” he said.The post Original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley dies at 74 appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.