Part of the KISS legacy is gone. Founding member and guitarist Ace Frehley died Oct. 16 at the age of 74.

The music world is mourning Frehley’s passing, some calling him “My first guitar hero."

His bandmates, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, released a statement, which read, He is and will always be a part of Kiss’s legacy. Our thoughts are with Jeanette, Monique and all those who loved him, including our fans around the world,” Variety reported.

His death came days after Simmons was involved in a car accident after having a medical emergency while behind the wheel.

Stanley also posted a photo and a tribute post on X.

Drummer Peter Criss simply wrote, “I’m shocked!!! My friend... I love you!”

Simmons wrote, “Our hearts are broken.” He noted that “Ace didn’t live long enough to be honored at the Kennedy Ctr Honors event in Dec.”

Frehley’s family said he died in Morristown, New Jersey, after a recent fall.

He was the “Spaceman ” or “Space Ace” and played guitars that were filled with pyrotechnics during his two periods he was with the legendary band - 1973 to 1982 and 1996 to 2002 - The New York Times reported.

During his time with KISS, the band released 11 albums that went gold or platinum in the U.S. and he performed on such hits as “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Was Made For Loving You” and “Christine Sixteen.”

He also had a solo career which he spoke about during an interview two years ago with the website Antihero. “Out of the four founding members of Kiss, I definitely have been the most successful solo artist,” he said. The reason was his single “New York Groove,” which is played after every New York Mets victory at Citi Field.

Frehley was born Paul Daniel Frehley in the Bronx in 1951 and was inspired to pick up the guitar at the age of 13 because of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. An ad in The Village Voice that read, “Lead guitarist wanted with flash and ability.” He auditioned and got the job in what would become KISS.

It wasn’t just his bandmates who marked Frehley’s death.

Mike McCready from Pearl Jam wrote on X that he was introduced to the band thanks to a lunchbox from a friend.

McCready’s former bandmate Rick Friel brought “a KISS lunchbox to tell me about Ace…just changed my life. I got a guitar in 1978 to join Rick‘s band Warrior which turned into Shadow. We covered ‘C’mon and Love Me’.

“All my friends have spent untold hours talking about KISS and buying KISS stuff. Ace was a hero of mine and also I would consider a friend. I studied his solos endlessly over the years…"

Tool’s Maynard James Keenan shared a photo of himself on Instagram from when he was a child, edited with Frehley’s Starman stage makeup.

Tom Morello called Frehley, “My first guitar hero.”

The Kennedy Center said that it “will be paying tribute to this ‘rock soldier’” during the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in December.

Read more tributes below:

Frehley leaves behind his wife, daughter, brother and sister, The New York Times reported.

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