KISS founding guitarist Ace Frehley has had a long history of taking falls, often on stage — due to the boots he wore.
Usually he would keep on playing through the fall, but a fall this week in his studio caused the legendary rocker to go to the hospital and cancel a show.
“Dear Rock Soldiers,” a post on Frehley’s Instagram page began. “Ace had a minor fall in his studio, resulting in a trip to the hospital.”
The post continued that Frehley “against his wishes” had to refrain from travel and resulted in canceling a performance at the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, California, on Friday.
“Please go to the fair to support his friends in Quiet Riot and Vixen, and Ace looks forward to continuing on his tour and finishing work on his next album, ‘Origins Vol. 4,’” the post concludes.
Fans were quick to offer well wishes to the musician.
“Ace, you don’t know me. I’m a faceless scream in the crowd. But I have been a fan since 1975. I’ve seen you from the rafters and in the front row. I wish you the best in recovery and beyond,” one commenter wrote.
In an interview with Music Radar earlier this year, Frehley said that he often fell while wearing platform boots on stage and that KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley or bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons would cover for him.
“I used to fall a lot in those boots,” he told Music Radar. “A lot of times. Paul would cover for me by walking over to me like it was part of the show. He made it look like it was choreography or something.
“If nobody realized I’d fallen, I play on my knees and get back up. It was just part of the show!”
Frehley also shared about the experience he had on stage in which he didn’t fall, and that might have saved his life.
During a show in Lakeland, Florida, in 1976, he was electrocuted due to a grounding issue, which left a staircase rail electrically charged, he said.
“I should have been dead that night,” he told Music Radar. “The fact that I got electrocuted and didn’t fall forward was a godsend. There must have been angels pushing me back.”
“I was standing on top of four Marshall cabinets on a staircase when I got shocked. I had a heavy Les Paul around my neck, and my body should have fallen forward — but I didn’t.”
“If I fell forward, I would have broken my (expletive) neck,” he continued. “But I fell back, and the road crew dragged me back off of the staircase. I had no feeling in my hands for five to 10 minutes.”
Frehley went on to finish the show, and later wrote the song “Shock Me,” which was included on KISS’s 1977 album “Love Gun.” It was the first song to feature Frehley on lead vocals.