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I’m usually not very emotional about rockstars passing away, especially when they go as elders. The way I see it, if their careers were fulfilled (Jackson, Prince, Bowie…), I’m not sad.

But with Ace Frehley, it’s a bit different — this is the guy who not only influenced me, but was the very reason I ever picked up a guitar and became a musician.

Of course, you know KISS. You might even know the names of the original four - Paul, Gene, Peter, and Ace.

It’s hard to grasp from today’s perspective, but Ace might actually be one of the most influential guitarists of all time.

Let’s take a look at the top of the list of guitarists who openly proclaim that Ace was the reason.

Slash, Tom Morello, Lenny Kravitz, Dimebag Darell, Mike McCready, Scott Ian, John 5, Phil X…

Pretty impressive, right?

I consider myself somewhere on that list too. It was KISS records that pumped rock’n’roll into the veins of a seven-year-old me. I started learning to play the guitar right away and formed my first band just a year later.

When I was about twelve, I read an article where Paul (or maybe Gene) said that sometimes during KISS shows, “Ace wandered aimlessly and a bit confusedly around the stage.” For the next few months, I would do exactly that - not really understanding that there were probably some substances behind Ace’s behavior..

I wish there were tapes from those shows - a twelve-year-old folk guitarist acting like he was drunk… 😄 But hey, if it was good enough for Ace, it was good enough for me.

I don’t know. Either you’re a rock’n’roll fan and you know exactly what the Spaceman meant for rock music, or you’re not - and KISS will always remain a huge question mark to you.

This text is a shout-out to all musicians who ever stumbled upon Ace Frehley’s unique guitar-shredding style - who saw him shoot the lights on stage with his guitar while it was literally on fire, or sing “New York Groove” with that cool voice of his, and fell in love with rock’n’roll.

Farewell, space dude.