Ace Frehley reviews, music, news

Along with Eddie Van Halen, Kiss' Ace Frehley inspired numerous up-and-coming rockers to pick up the guitar in the '70s — and comethe'90s,was listed by just about every contemporary rock guitarist (Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Pantera'sDimebagDarrell,etc.) as an important influence. Born Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, Frehley began playing guitarwhen hereceivedan electric six-string for his 14th birthday in 1965. Already a big fan of the Rolling Stones, Frehley was blown away when hecaughta multi-band live show in New York in early 196 ...read more

Along with Eddie Van Halen, Kiss' Ace Frehley inspired numerous up-and-coming rockers to pick up the guitar in the '70s — and comethe'90s,was listed by just about every contemporary rock guitarist (Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Pantera'sDimebagDarrell,etc.) as an important influence. Born Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951, in the Bronx, New York, Frehley began playing guitarwhen hereceivedan electric six-string for his 14th birthday in 1965. Already a big fan of the Rolling Stones, Frehley was blown away when hecaughta multi-band live show in New York in early 1967, featuring both the Who and Cream among others, which solidified his desire topursue rockguitarmore seriously and put a promising art career on the back burner. Frehley began playing in local bands soon after, addingboth LedZeppelinand Jimi Hendrix to his influences — and around this time adopted the nickname "Ace". Although none of the bands he playedwithhad takenoff, he answered an ad in a local paper for a new hard rock, theatrically based group in early 1973. A few weeks after his initial tryout, Frehley was hired as the lead guitarist for the new quartet, joining bassist and singerGeneSimmons,rhythm guitarist and singer Paul Stanley and drummer Peter Criss to form the band Kiss. By year's end, the grease- paintandcostume-wearing band was signed to Casablanca Records, and by 1978, had become one of the world's top hard rock bands. A stringofplatinumalbums and sold-out tours lasted from 1975 until 1979, when the trappings of fame threatened to break up the band. Frehley'sbestfriend inthe band, Criss, left Kiss in 1980, as the group unsuccessfully experimented with non-metal styles. Ace Frehley's use of alcoholanddrugsincreased due to his ever-increasing unhappiness in the band and, by 1982, he'd exited Kiss. Within a year or two after his split from Kiss, Ace began putting his own solo band together, Frehley's Comet. The band played inlocalNewYork clubs, but failed to issue a record until 1987's self-titled debut for Megaforce Records. Instead of following the heavy metaldirectionofhis exceptional 1978 solo album, Frehley's Comet tried to keep pace with the current pop-metal movement, issuing two otheralbums andalive EP by 1989. Around this time, Frehley put his old art talents to use once again through computer graphics with a few of hisimagesevenbeing featured in an art exhibit. Despite mud slinging in the press between Simmons/Stanley and Frehley in the early '90s, allfouroriginalKiss members made up in time to reunite for a 1995 taping of MTV Unplugged. The taping was such a success that it led to a full-blownreunion of the original lineup, resulting in the massively successful worldwide 1996-1997 Alive Tour. Frehley continued as a member of Kiss until the end of their Farewell Tour (lasting longer than fellow original member PeterCriss,whodropped out in 2001). Live appearances, including gigs at the massive Rocklahoma festival, kept Ace busy until 2009 when hereleasedthealbum "Anomaly" on his own label, Bronx Born Records. « hide

Similar Bands: KISS, Van Halen, Paul Stanley, Frehley's Comet, Peter Criss

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