"Ace Frehley, who played lead guitar as a founding member of the face-painted, blood-spitting, fire-breathing hard-rock band Kiss, died Thursday. He was 74. His death was confirmed by his record company, MNRK Music Group; Rolling Stone cited a statement from Frehley's family that said he died in Morristown, N.J. The guitarist had suffered injuries after a fall last month and had canceled a string of tour dates; TMZ reported Thursday that he'd been on life support in a hospital."
"In his alter ego as the Spaceman, Frehley played with the original incarnation of Kiss for less than a decade, from 1973 - when he formed the group in New York with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss - until 1982, when he quit not long after Criss left. Yet he was instrumental to the creation of the band's stomping and glittery sound as heard in songs like "Detroit Rock City," "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Strutter" and "I Was Made for Lovin' You." In the late '70s, those hits - along with Kiss' over-the-top live show - made the group an inescapable pop-cultural presence seen in comic books and on lunch boxes; today the group is widely viewed as an early pioneer of rock 'n' roll merchandising."
Ace Frehley died at 74 after suffering injuries from a fall; his death was confirmed by MNRK Music Group and the family said he died in Morristown, N.J. Frehley was the founding lead guitarist of Kiss, performing as the Spaceman from 1973 until 1982 and rejoining for a reunion from 1996 to 2002. He played on landmark songs including "Detroit Rock City," "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Strutter" and "I Was Made for Lovin' You." His playing and persona helped define Kiss's stomping, glittery sound and over-the-top live shows and established the band as a pioneer of rock merchandising. He was a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]