Ace Frehley

Paul Daniel Frehley was born on April 27, 1951, in The Bronx, New York City, the youngest of three children of Esther Anna (Hecht) and Carl Daniel 'Friebely' Frehley, an electrical engineer. His father, the son of Dutch immigrants, was from Pennsylvania. His mother was originally from North Carolina and of German and Cherokee descent.

The Frehleys were a musical family, and when he received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964, Paul immersed himself in learning the instrument. "I never went to music school; I never took a guitar lesson, but everybody in my family plays an instrument. My mother and father both played piano, his father was the church organist, and my brother and sister both played piano and acoustic guitar." He was always surrounded by music, and started playing guitar at age 13. Jimi Hendrix, Albert Lee, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, B. B. King, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and The Who were his main influences. Frehley also stated on more than one occasion that Peppy Castro of the Blues Magoos was a major guitar influence. Frehley had a troubled childhood. He joined a local street gang at age 13, although his interest in the gang waned as his interest in music grew. He was expelled from several high schools before eventually dropping out altogether. …

Frehley was married to Jeanette Trerotola from 1976 until his death, but they legally separated in 1985. The couple had a daughter, Monique, in 1980. During the 2000s and 2010s Frehley was in a relationship with musician Rachael Gordon, who contributed lyrics to his 2014 album Space Invader, and he in turn produced her album Paper Doll. After their breakup in 2019, Gordon filed a domestic violence restraining order against Frehley in San Diego County. His last relationship was with Lara Cove, whom he met in a Kiss fan convention in 2018, and would move in with her in New Jersey until they split up in 2024. Frehley started drinking at the age of 13, and struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse for decades. He only became sober in 2006, after a worrying call from his daughter prompted Frehley to seek the help of his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. Frehley released his autobiography, No Regrets – A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir, on November 1, 2011. The autobiography was authored by Frehley, Joe Layden, and John Ostrosky, and published through Gallery Books, a subdivision of Simon & Schuster. The book entered The New York Times Best Seller list in the hardcover non-fiction category at No. 10.

On September 25, 2025, Frehley suffered a minor fall in his home studio and was forced to cancel tour dates after being hospitalized. One week later on October 2, he fell down a flight of stairs at his home where he severely injured his head and was rushed to the hospital. Two weeks later on October 16, 2025, TMZ reported that Frehley was on life support with a ventilator and had brain bleeding. His family considered removing him from life support after his health failed to improve. Frehley died in Morristown, New Jersey, at the age of 74, several hours after life support was stopped. His former Kiss bandmates paid tribute to him. In a joint statement, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons described Frehley as an "essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history." Peter Criss stated that "Ace influenced and touched the hearts of millions of people." In accordance with his wishes, Frehley was buried near his parents at Woodlawn Cemetery following a private memorial service at Sinatra Memorial Home in Yonkers on October 21. The service was attended by a small group of family and friends, including the three remaining original members of Kiss.