Ace Frehley death under investigation

Photo Credit: Ace Frehley in 1999 by Jamiecat / CC by 2.0

The death of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley is reportedly under investigation as toxicology details remain forthcoming.

An investigation has been launched into the death of Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, who passed away in New Jersey last week. He was 74 years old.

A rep for the Morris County Medical Examiner’s office tells TMZ that an autopsy was not performed—but there will be a toxicology screening as well as an external body examination. According to the same rep, Frehley’s cause of death will be finalized in the next few weeks after the toxicology report is completed.

In a statement shared by his family, Ace died “peacefully surrounded by family “following a “recent fall” at his home. However, the exact cause of death has yet to be revealed.

Only hours before his death was announced, reports surfaced that Frehley was on life support after suffering a brain bleed in the studio in September. Because of this, he cancelled all remaining live shows he had scheduled for 2025. Soon after, Ace’s family made the difficult decision to remove his ventilator.

Ace Frehley was a founding member of Kiss, alongside Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss. He played with the group during their early days from 1973 to 1982, but left the group amid substance abuse issues and creative differences. However, he reunited with Kiss on several occasions.

“We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” his family wrote of his passing. “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.”

“We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley,” his former bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley said in a statement. “He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history.”

On December 7, Frehley will become the third musician to posthumously receive a Kennedy Center Honor, following the Eagles’ Glenn Frey and Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh.