One of the founding members of legendary rock band Kiss has died aged 74, his family have confirmed.
Guitarist Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley died surrounded by his loved ones, who said they were “devastated and heartbroken” by his loss.
“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,” a statement on Thursday morning said.
Frehley founded the iconic hard rock group alongside Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, with whom he performed from 1973 to 1982 before leaving amid creative differences and substance abuse issues.
Guitarist Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley died surrounded by his loved ones, who said they were ‘devastated and heartbroken’
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He then embarked on a solo career, founding the band Frehley’s Comet, which played together from 1984 to 1988.
The guitarist later rejoined Kiss for their 1996 reunion tour and remained with them until 2002.
Frehley was hospitalised just weeks ago after taking a bad fall in studio, resulting in the legendary musician to suffer a brain bleed.
He was later placed on life support, but his family made the decision to turn off his ventilator on Thursday, TMZ reported.
The guitarist later rejoined Kiss for their 1996 reunion tour and remained with them until 2002
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The Kiss legend was born in The Bronx in New York City in 1951.
The Frehleys were a musical family, with his mother, father, brother and sister all playing instruments.
At the age of 13, Frehley’s parents gifted him an electric guitar for Christmas, which he mastered despite never taking a lesson.
He was given the nickname Ace after his high school friends described him as being “a real ace” for picking up women.
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