Ace Frehley obituary

"In May 1983, the guitarist Ace Frehley was driving his DeLorean sports car along the Bronx River Parkway in New York when he was asked to pull over by a police officer. In an intoxicated state, Frehley sped off, as the charge sheet later phrased it, reaching 90mph and colliding with four other cars. He was caught, arrested and charged with drunk and reckless driving."

"Frehley, who has died aged 74, led a life punctuated by similar incidents, whether self-inflicted or inadvertent, such as a life-threatening electrocution that he narrowly survived on stage in 1976 with Kiss, the American rock band with whom he is most closely associated. In December that year the group then Frehley plus the drummer Peter Criss and bassist Gene Simmons, who shared lead vocals with the guitarist Paul Stanley took to the stage at Lakeland Civic Center in Florida."

Ace Frehley crashed his DeLorean in May 1983 after speeding away from a police officer while intoxicated, reaching 90mph and colliding with four cars. He was arrested, charged with drunk and reckless driving, had his licence revoked, paid a large fine, and faced court-ordered detox and mandatory AA meetings. Frehley, who died aged 74, survived a life-threatening electrocution onstage in 1976 when an unearthed metal railing connected with his electric guitar and knocked him to the ground. Recovering, he wrote "Shock Me" for Kiss's 1977 album Love Gun. Kiss sold more than 100m albums and were portrayed as cartoon superheroes, with Simmons and Stanley running the group and serving as its most recognisable faces.

Read at www.theguardian.com