Kiss And Tell: Ace Frehley On New York City

It could be argued that Ace Frehley was the most influential guitarist of the ’70s. When Kiss hit its commercial peak, there was no rock band more entrenched in the minds of America’s youth. Frehley teamed up with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss to form Kiss in New York City in 1973; they donned outrageous makeup and costumes and assumed comic-book hero personas. Though Criss wore the feline face paint, it’s Frehley who seems to have had nine lives. After leaving Kiss in 1982, Frehley embarked on a solo career, releasing three albums and compiling a laundry list of troubles that included drug and alcohol addiction, bankruptcy and high-speed car chases with the police. The now sober Frehley is set to release Anomaly, his first solo album in two decades. Read our Q&A with him.

Ace Frehley: My hometown! What can you say about the greatest city in the world!?! This place has had its share of ups and downs, but New York City always recovers. The people here are tough, no doubt about it. I’m proud to say I still make New York my home. I’ve lived in Hollywood a few times over the years, but I always return to the Big Apple. To me and to a lot of people, Kiss will always be associated with New York despite the fact that the current band now has that famous 90210 zip code!!!