Gene Simmons told The Post that a string of “bad decisions” made by former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley ultimately led to his passing. He pointed to Frehley’s drug use and the fatal trip down the stairs at his Morristown, New Jersey, studio—an accident that caused a brain bleed and left the 74‑year‑old dead on Oct. 16.
Simmons said that Frehley had ignored advice from people who cared about him, including himself, and that this resistance “isn’t a medical diagnosis, but it has real consequences.” He added that the fall “doesn’t kill you, but if there were other problems, it breaks my heart.”
The Morris County medical examiner’s report lists the cause of death as blunt head trauma from the fall, with a separate toxicology report still pending. “The sadder thing is that you get what you sow,” Simmons said.
During a private funeral service on Oct. 22, Simmons, along with Peter Criss and Paul Stanley, attended the open‑casket ceremony. He lamented that Frehley “just can’t stay alive long enough to sit there proudly at the Kennedy Center and listen to—” he said he could hardly name the guests—“really impressive people, just to say how much KISS meant to them.” “What can you say—sad,” Simmons added.
Simmons has been touring with the surviving band members and is currently in Washington, D.C., to pick up a Kennedy Center Honor and to testify in the Senate on a bill that would require large radio stations to pay royalties to performers.
He had previously shared with People the pressure that may have stopped other bandmates from stepping in for Frehley. “We keep touring because it’s working, because of the money, because we don’t want to ruin anything,” Simmons said. “In the meantime, someone who might be your brother is ruining their life by bad decisions.”
In 2019, Frehley posted a scathing online letter accusing Simmons of “slanderous remarks about my bad habits over the years that have cost me millions of dollars,” and claimed that despite being sober for 12 years, Simmons still doubted his reliability during shows. He noted that he had continued to perform with “The Ace Frehley Band” for twelve years.
Frehley had previously faced legal trouble in 1983 when he was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, and leaving the scene after a chase on the Bronx River Parkway in his 1981 DeLorean. As part of his sentence, he spent two weeks in a detox center and attended Alcoholics Anonymous sessions.
After co‑founding KISS in 1973, Frehley left the group in 1982, rejoined for the 1996 reunion tour, and stayed until 2002. When he passed, Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Frehley’s hometown of the Bronx all united to honor him, setting aside past disputes as they mourned a legendary guitarist.
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