The infamous interview aired on Oct. 31, 1979, on Snyder’s Tomorrow late-night show on NBC. Frehley, then 28 years old, sat alongside his KISS bandmates Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss. But the guitarist stole the show as he cracked jokes and took the attention away from the rest of the band.

He said of his loose, spontaneous approach to playing guitar and writing songs: “All I did was crank it up to 10 and start to rock and roll. When you stand in front of a Marshall stack and crank it, nothing sounds better!” Frehley was a hero and an influence to numerous guitar players.

Fifty years ago, four young New Yorkers dragged their guitars, amps and drums to a loft on 23rd Street in New York, dreaming of becoming the biggest band in the world. This weekend, Kiss, the band started by those four — albeit with two different members ...

Ace Frehley, guitarist and founding member of the rock group Kiss, has reportedly been left on life support weeks after canceling tour dates through the end of the year.