
Watch: Members Of ACE FREHLEY's Solo Band Celebrate Late KISS Legend At Rome, New York Concert
April 9, 2026Four of the musicians who played with Ace Frehley in his solo band — Ryan Spencer Cook on bass/vocals, Jeremy Asbrock on guitar/vocals, Matt Starr on drums and Derrek Hawkins on guitar — honored the legendary original KISS guitarist by performing Frehley's 1978 solo album in full, along with KISS classics, at their April 3 concert at Capitol Theatre in Rome, New York. Video of the concert — filmed and uploaded by JPL Productions— can be seen below.
In 2018, Asbrock, Cook, Philip Shouse and Christopher Williams performed with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons as the GENE SIMMONS BAND. The foursome were then invited to join Ace's band as Simmons was scheduled to return to KISS to prepare for the "End Of The Road" tour. Asbrock, Cook and Shouse accepted the invitation, but Willams could not do so due to a prior commitment with the German metal band ACCEPT.
"Gene [told Ace], 'If it's okay with them, it's okay with me,'" Asbrock, who played with Frehley for seven years, recalled in an October 2025 interview with Rolling Stone. "Later on, Gene pulled me into his dressing room, and the KISS Kruise was coming up, and he told us that Ace was going to ask us to do the cruise. Then we went to Japan from there with Ace and he asked us to be the band. I joined in September of 2018, so I've held the guitar-player position longer than any musician he's had, consecutively."
Frehley passed away last October at the age of 74. The founding KISS guitarist died of blunt-trauma injuries to his head due to a fall, the Morris County Medical Examiner confirmed in a report. The manner of death was ruled an accident.
According to the report, a CT scan of Frehley's head revealed multiple contusions, bone fractures to the back of his skull, hemorrhages, and a subdural hematoma (the type of bleeding that occurs in a person's brain after a head injury). Additional bruises were found on the musician's hip, thigh, and abdomen. The report also noted that Frehley had suffered a stroke.
A separate toxicology report on Frehley's blood at the time of his death has not yet been released.
Frehley's longtime manager John Ostrosky confirmed to the New York Post that the late KISS icon was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.
The legendary musician was buried on October 22 following a private memorial on October 21 at Sinatra Memorial Home in Yonkers, New York.
Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey. He reportedly died nearly two weeks after a second fall at his home, which led to him being placed on life support after a brain bleed. The musician's family made the heartbreaking decision to take him off the ventilator.
Frehley's family confirmed his death, writing 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.
"We cherish all of his finest memories, his laughter, and celebrate his strengths and kindness that he bestowed upon others. The magnitude of his passing is of epic proportions, and beyond comprehension. Reflecting on all of his incredible life achievements, Ace's memory will continue to live on forever!"
Ace co-founded KISS with guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley, Gene and drummer Peter Criss in New York City in 1973. Frehley appeared on KISS's first nine albums, and returned for the band's 1998 reunion album, "Psycho Circus", only to leave again. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the rest of KISS's original lineup in 2014.
Frehley first left KISS in 1982. He rejoined in 1996 and parted ways with the band once again in 2002 after the conclusion of KISS's first "farewell tour." Since his departure, guitarist Tommy Thayer had assumed the role of the Spaceman.
Earlier in October, Frehley scrapped the remainder of his previously announced 2025 tour dates due to unspecified "medical issues".
The legendary rocker announced the cancelation two weeks after he pulled out of the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, California after sustaining minor injuries in a fall at his home.
Frehley had a rocky relationship with Simmons and Stanley whom he blamed for exacerbating his abuse of drugs and alcohol because they allegedly minimized his contributions to KISS.
In 2019, Simmons told Guitar World that Frehley and Criss had exited KISS three times, in part because they "weren't carrying their load" and weren't dependable onstage. In response, Frehley called Simmons and Stanley "control freaks, untrustworthy and… too difficult to work with."
Ace said in a 2024 interview that he got sober in 2006 after "10 car accidents" and credited his daughter Monique with inspiring him to give up drinking in 2006.
"My daughter calls me up and goes, 'Dad, I'm not hearing good things about you.' I looked in the mirror and just said, 'Shit — she's right,'" he said. "That evening, I called my sponsor and he took me to an AA meeting, and I've been sober ever since."
Frehley married Jeanette Trerotola in 1978 before they legally separated seven years later but remained married. She survives him, along with their daughter Monique, brother Charles, sister Nancy Salvner, and a number of nieces, nephews and extended family members.
We Are Back In The New York Grove
April 3 Rome Capitol Theatre. Rome, NY
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