Adopting the persona of The Spaceman, Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley took the world by storm as a member of the shock rock band KISS. More than 50 years after making his debut, Frehley continued to perform live. Sadly, a brain bleed forced the 74-year-old guitarist to cancel all remaining shows for 2025 following a September fall at his home. Never recovering, Frehley died Thursday, Oct. 16, surrounded by family in Morristown, New Jersey. With the entire music world mourning, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready paid homage to one of his greatest inspirations
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Mike McCready Honors “Hero” Ace Frehley
Taking to the band’s official Instagram account, Mike McCready shared a photo from 2005. The picture shows Ace Frehley, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, and McCready himself “in awe.” The Grammy-winning shredder, 59, shared that he learned of the Spaceman’s death from Rick Friel, of McCready’s first band, Shadow.
“Rick was also the first guy on the bus in 1977 with a KISS lunchbox to tell me about Ace…just changed my life,” McCready wrote. “I got a guitar in 1978 to join Rick‘s band Warrior which turned into Shadow. We covered ‘C’mon and Love Me.’ All my friends have spent untold hours talking about KISS and buying KISS stuff. Ace was a hero of mine and also I would consider a friend.”
Mike McCready continued, “I studied his solos endlessly over the years.”
And in fact, if the guitar solo in Pearl Jam’s 1991 debut single “Alive” sounds familiar to KISS fans, there’s a reason. The Temple of the Dog lead guitarist modeled it after Frehley’s own in the 1975 song “She.”
[RELATED: The Guitar Riff That the Doors, KISS, and Pearl Jam All Have in Common]
“I would not have picked up a guitar without Ace and KISS’s influence,” McCready concluded. “RIP it out Ace, you changed my life. Thank you.”
Ace Frehley’s Influence
In a statement issued after his death, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s family declared that “Ace’s memory will continue to live on forever!” And judging from the countless guitarists Frehley impacted, they aren’t wrong. In addition to Mike McCready, Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, and Motley Crue’s John 5 have all cited the “New York Groove” singer’s influence on their own careers.
“I’d probably have practiced a little more if I knew I was going to affect that many people’s lives,” Frehley previously told Guitar Player.
Featured image by Mat Hayward/WireImage
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