Ace Frehley's cause of death has been revealed. The former Kiss guitarist died due to blunt trauma to the head after an accidental fall. This is explained by the report of the medical examiner of Morris County, New Jersey.
Frehley died in Morristown, New Jersey on October 16, at the age of 74. At the time, one of his representatives had attributed the death to “a fall that occurred recently because of him”, but the precise cause was not communicated. A head scan revealed multiple contusions, bone fractures at the back of the skull, hemorrhages and a subdural hematoma (the type of bleeding that occurs in the brain after a head injury). Bruising was found in other areas of the body, flank, thigh and abdomen. The doctors had attempted a decompressive craniectomy, the emergency surgery used to reduce the pressure caused by the hematoma. The report also revealed that Frehley had suffered a stroke.
A couple of weeks before his death, the musician's official Instagram account informed that due to a “small fall” Frehley had been forced to cancel a concert, but he was fine and planned to resume work on his next album Origins Vol. 4. On October 6, a new official message announced that “due to persistent health issues, Ace has made the difficult decision to cancel all remaining dates scheduled for 2025.”
After some rumors about his worsening health, it was his family who announced his death: “In his last moments of life, we were lucky enough to be able to embrace him with thoughtful and peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and expressions of love.” According to the site TMZ who was the first to report the worsening of his condition, it was his family who took him off the ventilator that was keeping him alive.
The musician's funeral took place on October 23 in the Bronx. His friend Eddie Trunk of SiriusXM said he received permission from the family to organize a tribute/celebration show for fans, details of which have not yet emerged.
Meanwhile, Kiss have announced the release of a new expanded version of the live album Alive! which marks the 50th anniversary of its publication and which dates back to the time in which Frehley was part of the band. In addition to the original remastered version, the Super Deluxe Edition will feature two more concerts from July 1975, at the RKO Orpheum Theater in Davenport, Iowa and Convention Hall in Wildwood, New Jersey, as well as some Iowa show rehearsals and live recordings at the Cleveland Music Hall in June 1975. The mixes are handled by Eddie Kramer.
