Gene Simmons Says ‘Bad Decisions’ Led to KISS Guitarist Ace Frehley’s Death

KISS frontman Gene Simmons says “bad decisions” are to blame for the death of his friend and bandmate Ace Frehley.

Following the 74-year-old guitarist’s fatal fall down the stairs at home in October, Simmons weighed in on Frehley’s “lifestyle” to The New York Post Saturday.

“He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle. In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you,” he said. “There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart.”

The rocker, 76, continued, “The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow unfortunately,” referencing his late bandmate’s struggles with substance abuse. Frehley had publicly celebrated 18 years of sobriety in 2024.

Simmons also shared memories of Frehley’s funeral service, which was held privately on Oct. 2. “It breaks my heart. Peter Criss, our founding drummer, Paul [Stanley] and myself went to the funeral, open casket,” he said, calling the occasion “heartbreaking” and “sad.”

Frehley died on Oct. 16 after sustaining blunt force head injury in a fall down the stairs that fractured his skull and led to both a brain bleed and a stroke. His death has since been ruled accidental.

Last month, Simmons told PEOPLE that he had “regrets” that he had not helped Frehley and Criss “have better lives.”

“If I have any regrets, my hand to God, it’s that I sometimes — and I think we all go through this sometimes — wish we were smarter and better at trying to help Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss] have better lives,” he said at the time, adding that all of KISS’ members were “guilty” of avoiding tough discussions with one another.

“Let’s just continue doing the tour because you want to get through it for selfish reasons because it’s working, and the chicks, and the money, and you don’t want to ruin anything,” said Simmons. “Meantime, somebody who might be your brother is ruining their life by bad decisions.”

Simmons added that he wished he “would’ve practiced more tough love” with the people he loved. “Tough love is a good idea in my opinion, with your children, with the people you love, with the people you care about, with the people you work with,” he opined. “It’s not going to be a popular thing or you’re going to argue about it, but in the long run you’re going to be helping that person hopefully change their life.”