by Alice Cooper has honoured the Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley with a poignant tribute to his late friend.
Frehley’s family confirmed in a statement that the iconic guitarist died in Morristown, New Jersey, on October 16th. His death came after he had recently cancelled all forthcoming live appearances after suffering a fall in the studio.
While no cause of death has been announced, hours before his death, TMZ reported that Frehley was on life support after suffering a brain bleed due to the fall in the studio, which had caused him to be put on life support.
Now, Cooper has shared: “The worst part of being in rock ‘n’ roll at this point is the fact that some of our fraternity have just reached that age where… they leave the planet. Some of the guys that started 30, 40, 50 years ago are starting to go, and of course Ace Frehley from KISS, one of the pioneers – one of the great guitar players out there…Ace was an absolute Guitar hero to so many people.”
He continued, “I did more tours with him than anybody else, as far as opening for us, for quite a long time, so we became quite good friends. And you know, he always brought it every night. He did it every night. And it’s just hard to see somebody like that go. We know that right now that the KISS fans are certainly in mourning and certainly his family and certainly everybody that knew him.”
Cooper concluded by writing about his late friend, “Ace was an ACE.”
The Frehley family previously said in a statement, “We are completely devastated and heartbroken. In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth.”
Frehley originally served in Kiss between 1972 and 1982, before later rejoining the group for a second stint between 1996 and 2002. He also released nine solo albums during his career.
His former bandmates in the hair-metal group have all honoured Frehley, with Gene Simmons writing on social media, “Our hearts are broken. Ace has passed on. No one can touch Ace’s legacy. I know he loved the fans. He told me many times. Sadder still, Ace didn’t live long enough to be honoured at the Kennedy Ctr Honors event in Dec. Ace was the eternal rock soldier. Long may his legacy live on.”
Additionally, the wider musical landscape has also honoured his legacy. Tom Morello described him as “my first guitar hero” and Rush labelled him “an undeniable character and an authentic rock star”.
