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: I still have fond memories of the Kiss tour of Japan in 1977. We felt like the Beatles! A lot of great shopping out there. I can’t wait to go back and see all the fans again. I was last there on the Kiss Farewell Tour in 2001. There was always a connection with Japan with the kabuki makeup. I recommend everyone visit there at least once in their life.