This story is featured in CityBeat’s July 12 print edition.
Influential guitar player and founding member of legendary glam rock band KISS, “Spaceman” Ace Frehley makes a landing for a local appearance on July 28.
Their hook-heavy songs, larger-than-life personas, makeup, platform boots and literally explosive live shows earned them enormous, near-Beatlemania stardom in the 1970s and, like The Beatles, they were four distinct characters, and each sang and wrote songs.
Frehley was and remains the Spaceman (or Space Ace), a tongue-in-cheek nickname, referring to himself as an alien from a planet called Jendell. His striking black, white and silver image was undeniably otherworldly along with his cool demeanor on stage, sense of humor in the press and innovative and generation-influencing guitar playing.
As a songwriter, he’s responsible for KISS classics like “Cold Gin,” “Shock Me” and “Rocket Ride,” among others. When the four members simultaneously released solo albums in 1978, his outsold the others with the help of a hit recording of the Russ Ballard song, “New York Groove” and a well rounded record packed with now fan favorites and production from legend Eddie Kramer.
After leaving the band in 1982, he formed Frehley’s Comet in 1984, releasing the band’s self-titled debut in 1987 with singles “Rock Soldiers” and “Into the Night.”
KISS made a surprise return, reuniting in 1996. “The Reunion Tour” was wildly successful, becoming the highest grossing tour that year and gave way to another tour and their highest charting album to that point, Psycho Circus (1998). The band completed a farewell tour and performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics before Frehley again departed.
He released Anomaly in 2009, sounding reinvigorated with a return to form that sparked a new and peak era as a solo artist. His 2011 autobiography, No Regrets, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. The trajectory continued with 2014’s Space Invader, the highest-charting record of his solo career. KISS was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that same year.
Frehley has continued his recent era of solo success with two albums covering songs that were influential to him — Origins Vol. 1 (2016) and Origins Vol. 2 (2020) — and another solo record, Spaceman (2018), and continued touring to generations of lifelong fans.
Ace Frehley plays J.D. Legends at 7 p.m. July 28. Info: jdlegends.com.
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This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 11, 2023.