Gene Simmons has apologized for suggesting that “bad decisions” played a role in Ace Frehley’s death.
Frehley, the founding lead guitarist of Kiss, died in October after a fall at his home studio in September. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be accidental blunt force trauma.
Despite Frehley’s repeated and proud declarations that overcoming his addiction issues and maintaining sobriety for the last two decades allowed him to sustain an active touring and recording career, Simmons recently questioned the autopsy results in an interview.
“[Ace] refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle,” Simmons declared. “In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart.”
However, similar to his comments regarding Prince’s death in 2016, where he stated, “How pathetic that he killed himself,” Simmons has now apologized for his remarks about Frehley.
“Upon reflection, I was wrong for using the words I used. I humbly apologize,” Simmons wrote on X. “My hand to God I didn’t intend to hurt Ace or his legacy but upon rereading my words, I see how they hurt everyone. Again, I apologize. I’ve always loved Ace. Always.”
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
After being reprimanded by his family and bandmate Paul Stanley for his 2016 comments about Prince, Simmons explained his behavior: “I apologize — I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts.”
Read More: 10 Most Demonic Gene Simmons Songs
Kiss at the Kennedy Center Honors
Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss received honors on Saturday, Dec. 6 at the White House and were then celebrated at a tribute show on Sunday night.
Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
