Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss (all founding members of the rock band KISS) have reunited to honor their former bandmate Ace Frehley.
The trio gathered in New York City’s Bronx to say a final farewell to the legendary guitarist, the band’s longtime friend Eddie Trunk shared on Instagram on Wednesday.
“It’s been an emotional few days to say the least as we said goodbye to our rock icon and longtime friend,” the SiriusXM personality wrote next to a memorial prayer card that read “In loving memory of Paul ‘Ace’ D. Frehley.”
“All services went as well as possible and were attended by a small group of family and close friends, including the three surviving original members of @kissonline,” Trunk added.
Chriss, 79, Simmons, 76, Stanley, 73, and Frehley were last seen together in public at the 29th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2014.
The quartet formed KISS in 1973 and has reunited several times over the past few decades, despite Chris leaving the band in 1980 due to creative differences and Frehley leaving in 1982 (Frehley rejoined KISS for a reunion tour from 1996 to 2002).
Frehley, who founded Frehley’s Comet Band a few years later, spoke candidly about his rocky relationship with Stanley and Simmons in an interview with Guitarist earlier this year.
“A lot of the misconceptions were created by Paul and Gene,” he explained. “They still say in interviews that they fired me, but I was never fired from KISS. I hate hearing that. And they say they fired me both times. I quit both times.”
At the time, the “10,000 Volts” rocker admitted that he initially parted ways with the band because he was not a fan of the transition from 1970s to 1980s rock.
Frehley and Chris were able to put their differences aside to join KISS’s Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour in the late 1990s, before going their separate ways once again.
Frehley has collaborated with Simmons on several projects over the years, including a 2017 benefit concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Simmons’ 2018 “Vault Experience” performance in Los Angeles.
However, Frehley and Criss opted out of joining Simmons and Stanley on stage for the group’s final End of the Road World Tour, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple in December 2024.
Frehley, whose real name was Paul Daniel Frehley, died on October 16 at the age of 74 after being placed on life support.
“Devastated” Stanley and Simmons paid tribute to the rocker in a statement to Page Six, writing: “He was an essential and irreplaceable rock warrior during the most formative and foundational period of the band and its history.”
“He is and always will be a part of the KISS legacy,” they continued.
A few weeks before his death, the musician fell in his studio and suffered a brain hemorrhage.
A Sept. 25 message shared to his Instagram said, “He is doing well, but against his wishes, doctors are insisting that he refrain from traveling at this time.” “Ace looks forward to continuing touring and finishing work on his next album, Origins Vol. 4.”
However, on October 6, Frehley announced in a separate statement that he was canceling the remainder of his 10,000 Volts Tour, citing “ongoing medical issues.”
