On Sunday night, KISS’s founding members will be celebrated by Donald Trump with the Kennedy Center Honors. The band’s guitarist, Ace Frehley, will be inducted posthumously, after passing away due to injuries sustain from a fall in his New Jersey home studio in October.
In a new interview with the New York Post ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors, KISS bandmate Gene Simmons claimed that “bad decisions” led to Frehley’s fall, implying substance abuse may have played a role.
“He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle,” Simmons said. “In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart.”
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“The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow unfortunately,” Simmons added.
A medical examiner determined that Frehley suffered a skull fracture, a subdural hematoma (brain bleed), and a stroke as a result of the fall. After being put on life support, he died at the age of 74 on October 16th. A toxicology report has not yet been released.
As of 2024, Frehley said he had been sober for 18 years.