HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACE FREHLEY!!

Early years
Ace Frehley was born on April 27, 1951 in The Bronx, a bourough of New York City. He was the youngest of three children. As a youth, Ace was in a New York street gang called The Duckies with Steven Edward Duren (aka Blackie Lawless, who would later become frontman for heavy metal band W.A.S.P.). The Frehleys were a musical family, and when Ace received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964, he immersed himself in learning the instrument. Ace has cited guitarists such as Pete Townsend, Kal Edmondson and Jeff Beck as his major musical influences.

When Ace's band, Cathedral, started earning a series of paying gigs, Ace dropped out of high school. At the insistence of his family and girlfriend, Ace eventually returned and earned his diploma. After graduation, Ace held a string of short-term jobs-mail carrier, furniture deliverer, messenger, and liquor store delivery boy.

Music career
Kiss
Ace spent the early 1970s in a series of local bands. In late 1972, his best friend, Bob McAdams, spotted an advertisement for a lead guitarist in the Village Voice and showed the ad to Ace. Both Bob and Ace went to 10 East 23rd Street above the Live Bait Bar. Ace auditioned for the trio of Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (bass guitar) and Peter Criss (drums). Ace (who showed up wearing one red sneaker and one orange sneaker) was less than impressive visually, but the band liked what they heard from his playing. About three weeks after he auditioned, the new group named him their lead guitarist. By January 1973, the unnamed band decided on a name - Kiss. Ace designed the band's unique, double-lightning-bolt logo. The band quickly decided to paint their faces for live performances, and Ace decided to start painting silver stars on his eyes. When the group eventually decided to adopt stage personas to go with their makeup designs, Ace became "Space Ace," an alien visitor from the planet of Jendell.

While Kiss spent their early days rehearsing and playing in empty clubs, Ace took a job as a part-time cab driver to pay his bills. In September 1973, Kiss began to receive a salary from new manager Bill Aucoin that paid each member $75 a week. This allowed Ace to quit his job.
Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974-Ace's sole songwriting contribution was "Cold Gin". Due to Ace's lack of confidence in his own singing voice, however, Simmons performed the vocals. Ace wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs over the next few years but didn't record his vocals on a song until "Shock Me" (inspired by his near-electrocution during a concert), which appeared on 1977's Love Gun.
As lead guitarist, Ace was known for his frenetic, atmospheric playing, becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the 70s and spawning a generation of new players. Indeed, Ace stated in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask that many guitarists have told him his playing on 1975's hit Alive! prompted them to pick up the instrument.

Along with the three other Kiss members, Ace released a solo album in 1978. His was the best-selling of the four, and the album's lone single (the Russ Ballard written "New York Groove") reached the Top 20 in the United States and continues to be a huge fan favorite.
Ace's songwriting presence within the group increased in 1979, contributing 2 originals and a cover (The Rolling Stones' 2000 Man) for 1979's Dynasty and 3 originals for 1980s Unmasked. While this was not the best time for Kiss on a commercial level in the United States, they were only just beginning to take off in other countries (mostly in Australia where Dynasty and Unmasked are their highest selling albums). But even as his songwriting role within Kiss was increasing, Ace found himself increasingly at odds with the musical direction of the band. After Peter Criss left Kiss in 1980, Ace was often outvoted 2-1 in band decisions, as replacement drummer Eric Carr was not a partner in Kiss and had no vote. Ace's participation in the recording of 1981's Music from "The Elder" was far more limited than with previous albums. Although Ace appeared on the covers for 1982's greatest hits album Killers and studio album Creatures of the Night, he had no involvement with Killers, and minimal input on Creatures of the Night. Ace's last appearances with the band were the video for "I Love it Loud," a series of European promotional appearances in November 1982 and a band interview with MTV in early 1983 promoting their world tour.

Solo career/Frehley's Comet
Although Ace was no longer a legal member of Kiss as of March 1983 (he was replaced by Vinnie Vincent for the start of the Creatures of the Night tour in December 1982), he retained a one-quarter share in the Kiss partnership until 1985. Wanting to avoid any potential legal or monetary entanglements, Ace did not actively begin his solo career until he was out of the partnership; he did however receive one-quarter of the profits for both Lick It Up and Animalize although he had no involvement on either record.
In 1984, Ace started his post-Kiss solo career by assembling a band that included, among others, drummer Anton Fig (who had performed on Ace's 1978 solo album and on two Kiss albums). Bassist John Regan, whom Ace met in 1980, was also an original member of the band as was guitarist Richie Scarlett. The group, whose name alternated between 'Ace Frehley' and Frehley's Comet, recorded a series of demos throughout 1984 and 1985. The band performed their first ever live show at S.I.R. Studios in New York City, NY on November 20, 1984.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at securing a recording contract, the group eventually signed to Megaforce Records and released their first album, Frehley's Comet, on July 7, 1987. The album was co-produced by Eddie Kramer, who had produced not only a number of Kiss albums, but Ace's 1978 album and some of his 1984-85 demos. Frehley's Comet, a mixture of hard rock and pop metal, was a successful return to the music scene for Ace. The album peaked at #43 on the Billboard 200 (selling nearly 500,000 copies), and the single, "Rock Soldiers," reached #27 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Rock Soldiers" was an autobiographic song, written partially about Frehley's April 1982 car accident. The video for "Rock Soldiers" received moderate airplay on MTV, particularly on Headbangers Ball.
Despite the positive reviews and healthy album sales of Frehley's Comet, Ace was unable to maintain much commercial momentum. Two 1988 Frehley's Comet albums-the live EP Live+1 and second studio album Second Sighting peaked at #84 and #81, respectively. A pair of tours in support of Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden ended prematurely, with the band claiming lack of payment in both cases.
In order to reverse his band's declining commercial fortunes, Ace dropped the Frehley's Comet moniker and issued 1989's Trouble Walkin' under his own name. Tod Howarth also decided to leave before recording started on the album, and was replaced by Richie Scarlet. Despite the return to a more traditional hard rock style, Trouble Walkin' continued the pattern of declining sales, and peaked at #102.

One notable aspect of Trouble Walkin' was the guest appearance of Peter Criss, who provided vocals for the track "2 Young 2 Die." It was the first time Peter and Ace had performed together on an album since Kiss's 1979 album, Dynasty, although Peter had shown up briefly at a Frehley's Comet show in Los Angeles in 1987, playing drums on a final encore of "Deuce". In contrast to the somewhat adversarial relationship Ace had with Kiss (particularly Gene Simmons) throughout the 1980s, he and Criss had maintained good ties during the decade. In June 1995, Ace's and Peter's bands embarked on the "Bad Boys Tour." The shows ended with Ace and Peter joining each other to perform "2,000 Man", "Beth", "Nothin' to Lose" and "Rock and Roll All Nite."

Kiss reunion and beyond
The beginning of the "Bad Boys Tour" was followed a few months later by Frehley and Criss both performing with Kiss for their August 9, 1995 appearance on MTV Unplugged. It marked the first time the original members of Kiss had performed in public since the end of the Dynasty tour in 1979. Fan response was overwhelming, and rumors of a full-fledged reunion circulated. By December, the paperwork for the reunion was completed, although no official announcement was made at the time.


On February 28, 1996, the original members of Kiss appeared (in makeup and costumes) at the Grammy Awards, to a standing ovation. On April 16, Kiss officially announced their reunion and plans for a tour during a press conference aboard the USS Intrepid. The Alive/Worldwide Tour kicked off on June 28 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The tour lasted through July 1997 and was a financial windfall for the group, earning $43.6 million.


The reunited Kiss issued Psycho Circus in September 1998. Ace's lone song on the album, "Into the Void," was performed during the subsequent tour. The Psycho Circus tour commenced on November 12, 1998 (a Halloween show on October 31 at Dodger Stadium had several songs simulcast live on FOX's Mad TV), and was followed by the "Farewell Tour" beginning in March 2000. Ace, expecting that the tour would be Kiss's last, chose not to remain in the band when it ended. His last performance with Kiss was on February 24, 2002, during the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Ace appeared with Rob Zombie, Slash, Tommy Lee, Scott Ian, and Gilby Clarke on VH-1's Rock Honors special on May 31, 2006. This supergroup played Kiss's "God of Thunder."

He has also tried his hand at acting (not counting a walk-on in Millennium or his part in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park), making his debut in 2005 in Remedy, an independent crime drama. In July 2007, a Dunkin' Donuts television commercial directed by Zach Braff began airing that featured Ace playing in his Kiss makeup and costume. That same month, July 16, 2007, Ace was the Special Guest at the 2nd Anniversary of the Kiss Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC where he thrilled several hundred fans by meeting & signing items.


After many hours of signing articles for fans, Ace surprised everyone with a Once In A Lifetime live performance.
Ace came onstage & did an impromptu performance of "SHOCK ME" with the wonderful Kiss Tribute band MR SPEED. This was an amazing experience!


Ace played his first solo show in 6 years on October 29, 2007 at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY. Ace is currently touring the US with his "Rocket Ride" Tour & is readying a new album for release, hopefully SOON, in 2008.



Now with all that said…
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