Ace Frehley, Kiss cofounder, dies at 74 after fall in New Jersey

Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Kiss, died on October 16 in Morristown, New Jersey. He was 74. His family said he died peacefully surrounded by relatives after suffering a fall in his home studio weeks earlier that led to a brain bleed and hospitalization. They said they made the difficult decision to remove him from life support when his condition did not improve. "We are completely devastated and heartbroken," the family said in a statement.

A representative for the Morris County Medical Examiner's Office said no autopsy was performed, but officials are carrying out an external examination and a full toxicology screening. The medical examiner will not finalize a cause of death until toxicology results are complete, which could take several weeks, the representative said.

Frehley rose to prominence as the Spaceman or Space Ace, the silver-faced, pyrotechnic showman whose guitar theatrics and riffs helped define Kiss's theatrical hard rock identity. He was one of four members who formed Kiss in New York in 1973 alongside Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss. The group became known for bombastic live shows and a string of hit...