Ace Frehley, best known for being the guitarist and co-founder of the legendary rock band KISS, died on October 16 after a fall at his home in Morristown, New Jersey. The incident was ruled an accident. A toxicology report was likely taken, but has not yet been released.
Gene Simmons, also a co-founder of KISS in 1973, of course, doesn't think he needs to wait for the toxicology report to know what likely led to the fall. Speaking with the New York Times prior to KISS being one of the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees, Simmons delivered a brutal opinion of what might have led to Frehley's demise.
Does Simmons have proof? That is not known, but it is unlikely he does. Still, that did not stop him from probably upsetting a lot of Frehley fans by unleashing a critique in which the guitarist has no chance to defend himself. It is not well done to speak badly about the dead, but Simmons did.
KISS' Gene Simmons has a brutal opinion about what led to Ace Frehley's death
"He refused (advice) from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle,” Simmons said. “In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart. The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow, unfortunately."
The implication, of course, is that Frehley fell because he was on some kind of illicit substance. The guitarist had issues in his past with drugs, but he had maintained he had been sober for 18 years before his death. Gene Simmons indicated he doesn't believe that.
One aspect of what Simmons said is clearly wrong, though. A person cannot absolutely die from falling down the stairs. People have seen that happen a few million times in films to know what Simmons espoused isn't the truth.
We can also hope that what Gene Simmons implied about Ace Frehley being on drugs isn't factual, either. Simmons and Frehley didn't care for each other much over recent decades, but for Simmons to put out that Frehley might not be sober is not a good thing to do.
Hopefully, Frehley's toxicology report will come back clean. He definitely struggled with inner demons during his life, but he probably would have liked to have nothing more than to prove Simmons wrong. Fortunately for KISS fans, the other high-profile member of the band, Paul Stanley, has stayed out of the Simmons-Frehley fiasco so far.