As one of the founding members of Kiss, Ace Frehley remains a towering figure in the world of hard rock and heavy metal. Alongside his bandmates Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Gene Simmons, Frehley helped bring a fresh, commercial edge to the genre, making it more accessible to a broader audience. Thanks to their theatrical performances and genre-bending sound, Kiss continues to be recognized as one of the most influential acts in rock history.
The band’s blend of heavy riffs, melodic hooks, and pop sensibilities contributed greatly to their rise during the 1970s and 1980s. Their distinctive makeup and flamboyant stage personas helped set them apart, even if some critics dismissed parts of their act as gimmicky. Still, their consistent musicality and dynamic songwriting made them enduring icons in rock music.
Kiss’s pop leanings were largely shaped by British acts from the 1960s, including The Beatles and The Yardbirds, as well as glam rock pioneers like Slade. On the heavier side, their sound was influenced by the shock factor and raw edge of Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. As the band’s lead guitarist, Ace Frehley drew inspiration from a range of artists who left a lasting mark on his musical evolution.
One name that stands out in Frehley’s list of influences is Jimi Hendrix. Like many aspiring guitarists of his generation, Frehley looked up to Hendrix as the ultimate master of the electric guitar. In fact, he considers Hendrix’s 1967 debut album with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced?, to be the greatest album of all time.
In a 2023 interview with Classic Rock, Frehley described the record as a “revolutionary” release that changed the course of his life and sent him down the path to becoming a musician. He even recalled carrying a copy of the album with him everywhere as a teenager.
Frehley also expressed admiration for Hendrix during a 2014 interview with Guitar World. “My guitar style was modelled after a lot of musicians, and Hendrix was definitely one of them,” he said. “But even more than the music, what really influenced me was his attitude. The way he dressed, the way he looked. He was so anti-establishment, and nobody wrote music like him.”
Frehley shared a particularly unforgettable memory from his youth: sneaking backstage at a Hendrix concert in 1969 when he was only 18 years old. Dressed in lemon-yellow hot pants, a black T-shirt with a snakeskin star, and sporting waist-length hair, he managed to blend in with the crew and was even asked to help out as a roadie. “If you looked like you belonged with the band, they let you go backstage,” he recalled. “They put me to work setting up Mitch Mitchell’s drums and working on the stage when Jimi was playing. It was bizarre.”
That surreal night gave Frehley a rare, firsthand experience of working behind the scenes at a Hendrix show — a once-in-a-lifetime moment that cemented his deep admiration for his musical idol. To this day, Are You Experienced? remains not just an influence, but the definitive album in Frehley’s eyes — the one that shaped his artistry and set the standard for what rock music could achieve.
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