Mtp.Heartbreak in the KISS Universe: Ace Frehley’s Final Moments and His Wife’s Tearful Goodbye
The Spaceman’s journey ends not with pyrotechnics, but with love, legacy, and a quiet goodbye.
The amps are finally quiet. The starlight that once reflected off silver greasepaint and a Gibson Les Paul has dimmed.
On October 16, 2025, in a small hospital room in Morristown, New Jersey, surrounded by his wife, Jeanette Trerotola, and their daughter, Monique, Ace Frehley — the founding guitarist and original “Spaceman” of KISS — took his final bow. He was 74.
His wife’s words, spoken through tears, cut to the heart of the loss:
“I couldn’t stop crying during the entire process,” Jeanette revealed quietly. “I made the decision to remove his life support. I didn’t want him to suffer any longer. And just a few hours later, he was gone forever.”
It was a moment as tender as it was devastating — a farewell that underscored the humanity of a man who spent half a century performing as something larger than life.
From Bronx Kid to Rock God
Born Paul Daniel Frehley on April 27, 1951, Ace grew up in the Bronx — the youngest of three siblings in a working-class family where music wasn’t just background noise, it was oxygen. His father, Carl, was a jazz musician and electrical engineer; his mother, Esther, encouraged his wild imagination.
At 13, young Ace unwrapped his first electric guitar — a Christmas gift that would alter his destiny. The neighborhood could have swallowed him whole, but the six strings saved him.
“I was the black sheep,” he admitted in his 2011 memoir No Regrets. “But that guitar gave me a voice louder than any trouble I could find.”
By 21, he had answered an ad in The Village Voice looking for a lead guitarist for a new band. The audition would change music forever.
That band, of course, was KISS.
Blasting Off: The Rise of the Spaceman
When Frehley stepped onstage with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss in the early ’70s, the world wasn’t ready for what they brought — face paint, pyrotechnics, and a sound as explosive as their visuals.
Ace’s silver-star makeup and cosmic persona gave him an otherworldly aura, but his music kept it real. Songs like “Cold Gin,” “Shock Me,” and “Rocket Ride” were pure rock grit with a bluesy edge.
He wasn’t just the band’s guitarist — he was its electric pulse.
Frehley’s iconic 1978 self-titled solo album cemented his status as KISS’s breakout star. His cover of “New York Groove” became a Top 20 hit, proving that behind the theatrics was a bona fide hitmaker.
“He was the spirit of rock ’n’ roll in that band,” said Gene Simmons in a statement following Frehley’s death. “You could feel it in every note.”
The Man Behind the Makeup
For all the pyrotechnics and power chords, Ace Frehley was a surprisingly private man.
At the height of KISS mania in the mid-1970s, he found an unlikely refuge in Jeanette Trerotola, an Italian-American actress whose warmth and stability grounded his chaos. The couple married on May 1, 1976 — just as KISS’s fame reached its fever pitch.
“She was his calm in the storm,” said a close friend. “When the world screamed for Ace, she whispered to Paul.”
Their love endured turbulence — separations, reconciliations, the shadows of addiction — yet through every tour and every trial, they found their way back to each other.
Together, they welcomed their daughter Monique in 1980. She inherited her father’s creative streak, carving her own path in music. The pair shared a deep, affectionate bond, one marked by humor and mutual admiration.
In 2023, they got matching tattoos of Ace’s stage name — a symbol of connection that went beyond words. “She’s my rock,” Ace said at the time.
A Sudden Fall and the Final Days
Frehley’s passing came as a shock to fans and family alike.
In late September 2025, while working in his home studio, he suffered a severe fall that caused a brain hemorrhage. Rushed to the hospital, he was placed on life support. Despite medical intervention, his condition rapidly deteriorated.
“He was peaceful, but it was clear he was slipping away,” Jeanette shared. “We surrounded him with love, prayers, and his favorite music.”
The decision to remove life support was one no family ever wants to make — but it was made out of compassion.
“Jeanette was incredible,” said a family spokesperson. “She made sure he left this world surrounded by love, not machines.”
Just hours after, on October 16, Ace took his final breath.
The Music Never Stopped
Ace’s death forced the cancellation of his upcoming California shows and his entire 2025 tour, which was already facing delays following his accident. His last live performance — a high-energy gig on September 4, 2025 — now stands as his final gift to fans.
The moment news broke, tributes flooded in from every corner of the rock universe.
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons issued a joint statement that read:
“Ace was a rock warrior — a creative force who made KISS what it was. We are devastated.”
Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready added:
“When I was 11, I saw a KISS lunchbox and it changed my life. Ace Frehley was my hero.”
A Modest Fortune, a Priceless Legacy
Unlike some of his bandmates, Ace’s financial fortunes didn’t mirror his fame.
His net worth at the time of death was estimated around $1 million — a modest sum for a global rock icon. Years of mismanagement, substance struggles, and tax troubles chipped away at his earnings. In 2013, he lost his Yorktown Heights, New York estate to foreclosure; in 2016, he filed for bankruptcy.
Still, his royalties from KISS classics and solo work like “New York Groove” and “Rock Soldiers” continued to generate income. He earned steady revenue from tours, merchandise, and his bestselling memoir No Regrets (2011).
His final studio project, Origins Vol. 3, set for release in late 2025, is expected to serve as a posthumous tribute — and perhaps his biggest hit in decades.
The rights to his music and likeness are expected to pass primarily to his daughter, Monique. Insiders say she plans to honor her father’s legacy through exhibitions and charity efforts.
Homes Fit for a Spaceman
Frehley’s properties were extensions of his creative soul.
In 1979, he bought a 6,400-square-foot mansion in Wilton, Connecticut, complete with five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and his private recording space, “Ace in the Hole.” It was there that KISS recorded parts of Music from ‘The Elder’.
The house, sold in 1986, remains a pilgrimage site for fans. Now converted into an Airbnb, it rents for nearly $800 a night, offering diehard KISS devotees a glimpse into rock history.
He also owned a sprawling estate in Yorktown Heights, later lost to foreclosure, and a smaller property in Ossining, New York, which became a makeshift archive for his memorabilia.
In the 2000s, Ace moved west to San Diego, where he lived quietly in recent years. Friends describe his home as “equal parts rock museum and sanctuary.”
The Legacy Lives On
Ace Frehley’s journey was a paradox — part chaos, part clarity.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with KISS in 2014, cementing his influence on generations of guitarists. His “Spaceman” persona inspired not just musicians but artists, comic creators, and dreamers worldwide.
In his later years, Ace often spoke about gratitude. “I’ve made mistakes,” he told Guitar World in 2020. “But the music — that’s forever.”
That prediction proved true. In the days following his passing, streaming numbers for KISS surged, with Shock Me and Rocket Ride dominating playlists. Vintage footage of Ace’s explosive solos trended anew, reminding everyone why his guitar once smoked — literally — under arena lights.
A Family’s Farewell
For Jeanette and Monique, the grief is still fresh. Their statement, issued through the family’s publicist, reads like a love letter:
“Ace was more than a musician. He was a husband, a father, a dreamer, and our hero. His laughter filled our home; his music filled the world. We will carry his light forever.”
Fans around the globe — from Tokyo to Buenos Aires — have lit candles, played his records, and painted stars on their faces in tribute.
A private funeral will be held later this month, followed by a public memorial concert, rumored to feature performances by KISS alumni and younger rockers influenced by the Spaceman’s signature style.
To the Stars and Back
In the end, Ace Frehley’s life reads like one of his solos: wild, unpredictable, soaring, and beautiful.
He leaves behind riffs that generations will study, memories fans will treasure, and a family who loved him beyond the legend.
From the Bronx basement where a teenage boy first strummed a guitar to the arenas where he became immortal, Ace Frehley’s journey has come full circle — from the stars, back to the heart.
For those who grew up idolizing the Spaceman, his story ends not in darkness but in light — the same light that danced across thousands of stages and a million hearts.
As Jeanette put it best:
“He wasn’t just my husband. He was the universe.”
And in that universe, Ace Frehley will always shine.
