Gene Simmons' Sadness: Ace Frehley Was Not Gone When KISS Received Kennedy Center Honors

KISS in 1975 (Instagram @kissonline)

JAKARTA - KISS vocalist and bassist Gene Simmons delivered an emotional statement regarding his former bandmate, Ace Frehley, who died on October 16.

In between his performances at a charity concert in Castaic Lake, California recently, Simmons expressed his biggest sadness at Frehley's death.

"I want to take a moment to let you know that someone I've known for decades, who started the band with us, a man named Ace Frehley..." Gene Simmons told the crowd, quoted by Blabbermouth, Wednesday, November 12.

Some fans among the crowd suddenly shouted the name Ace. Simmons then continued in a sad tone.

"It's very sad. Paul (Stanley, frontman of KISS) and myself, as well as Peter Criss (KISS original drummer), we attended Ace's funeral. He died sadly," said the bassist. And the saddest part of all, apart from pain and suffering for friends, family, his wife, his whole family, is Ace not living long enough to be with us on December 6 when the president and everyone will stand there and respect the KISS for our entry into the Kennedy Center Honors."

Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center Honors is an award that recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to American culture through performing arts.

Simmons insists Frehley deserves a place in the award, even though he is dead.

"And the first person who will come out and talk about how KISS changed his life is (state musician)04 Brooks, who will host. Then he will play 'Shout It Out Loud' and present his best performance," Simmons said.

"And in memory of Ace, we will make sure one of the four seats is empty under the name Ace, because he deserves to be there in spirit, even if he can't be there physically," he said.

Meanwhile, Ace Frehley will be the third person to receive the Kennedy Center Honor posthumously, following in the footsteps of another musician who died following the announcement of the award, namely Glenn Frey of Eagles and Phil Lesh of Grateful Dead.

The announcement that KISS will receive the Kennedy Center Honor was made by US President Donald Trump last August.

At that time, Frehley had expressed her joy. "This is a dream come true that I never thought would come true," Frehley said.

Apart from KISS, those who will receive similar awards at the same time are Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, and George Strait.