Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche honored the late Ace Frehley during a solo concert on October 16 in Patchogue, New York, performing a tribute song inspired by KISS. The former queensrÿche vocalist mistakenly announced Frehley’s passing to the audience before the news was widely reported, stating, “I don’t know if you’ve heard, Ace Frehley died today. Love that man… He will go down in musical history.”
Frehley, best known as the original lead guitarist for KISS, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 29, in Morristown, New Jersey, surrounded by family. He was 78. News of his death followed reports that he was on life support after suffering a brain bleed from a fall and being forced to cancel tour dates.
Tate recalled Queensrÿche’s experience touring with KISS in 1984, alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Twisted Sister, and a rising Bon Jovi.”I really enjoyed the KISS tour,” Tate said in a 2011 interview with Legendary rock interviews. “They were really great in that they gave us the full run of the entire stage, anything we wanted they gave to us.”
Frehley co-founded KISS in New York City in 1973 with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss. He contributed to the band’s first nine albums and rejoined for their 1998 reunion album, “Psycho Circus,” before departing again. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the original KISS lineup in 2014.
Frehley’s career with KISS was marked by periods of leaving and returning; he initially left in 1982, rejoined in 1996, and left for a final time in 2002, with Tommy Thayer afterward taking on the “Spaceman” persona. His real name was Paul Daniel Frehley.
