The twentieth century witnessed the birth of rock music and dozens of instrumentalists, guitarists and drummers. One of these musicians is Ace Freilly. He took the fourteenth position on the list of the best heavy metal guitarists of all time according to the American music magazine Guitar World Magazine.
Ace Freili is one of the few musicians who has managed to stay forever in the hearts of fans of rock music. The American guitarist and vocalist independently mastered playing the guitar. And later he created his own unorthodox style of playing the instrument, which conquered millions of people.
Biography
Ace Freilly, at the birth of Paul Daniel Freilly, was born on April 27, 1951 in the Bronx - one of the districts of New York. He became the youngest of three children in the family of Karl Daniel and Esther Anna Freili. His father was the son of Dutch immigrants, his mother was German, who grew up in the United States.
Carl Daniel was a talented classical pianist. He dreamed of making music and building a musical career. But the Great Depression forced him to change plans and find a job that could provide for his family. Ace, like her husband, also made music. Parents - musicians managed to instill a love of music and their children. Ace's brother Charles plays the guitar, and Nancy's sister plays the piano.
Bronx District, NY Photo: Dan DeLuca / Wikimedia Commons
The training of young Ace Freilly began at Theodore Roosevelt High School, which was located in the Bronx. But after he was expelled, he continued his education at DeWitt Clinton High School and finally graduated from Grace Lutheran College.
Ace never took guitar lessons from professional teachers. Growing up in a family of musicians and possessing an innate talent, he simply listened and watched his parents, brother and sister. On April 27, 1965, he received from his father an electric guitar, which became a gift for his fourteenth birthday. From this moment, the story of the formation of the future rock star, musician and songwriter began.
Career and creativity
After an unsuccessful collaboration with several music groups in Ace's career, a turning point came. At the end of 1972, Freilly's friend talked about a musical audition advertised in the weekly newspaper The Village Voice. Together they went to the casting, where they were to perform before the members of the American rock and roll and glam rock band Wicked Lester.
Ace Freilly managed to impress the members of this musical group. Soon he received an invitation to take the lead guitarist position. The group was later renamed KISS. In addition to his musical contribution, Freilly also designed the logo for this new rock band.
Speech by Gene Simmons and Ace Freilly in New Haven Photo: Carl Lender / Wikimedia Commons
At first, Freili was forced to get a job in order to earn money for a living. However, in 1973, the group managed to find a manager who paid each member of KISS a weekly salary of $ 75. Soon Freylie had her job, to deal only with music.
In 1974, the band released their first self-titled album. In addition to playing the guitar, the musician co-authored two songs, namely Love theme from KISS and Cold Gin. The song Cold Gin was especially praised by critics, and Freilly continued to write lyrics and play the guitar.
In 1977, he performed as a vocalist with the song Shock Me, which was included in the sixth studio album called Love Gun. Later, he sang a few more songs and wrote a lot of songs for the albums Dynasty and Unmasked. However, everything fell apart when Peter Criss left the band. Disagreements that arose in the team led to the fact that Freili did not go on the Creatures of the Night tour.
American musician Peter Criss Photo: Casablanca Records / Wikimedia Commons
In 1984, Ace formed his own band, Frehley's Comet, along with Anton Fig and John Regan, who played drums and bass, respectively. After a series of concerts, the band received support from the American independent label Megaforce Records. In 1987, Megaforce released the group's debut album, which sold over 5 thousand copies and secured a 43rd place on the Billboard 200.
In 1988, Frehley's Comet released two other compilations - Second Sighting and EP Live + 1. Both albums were highly acclaimed and secured a good position in the Billboard countdown charts.
However, after a split that lasted more than ten years, Freili and other members of the KISS group reunited. In 1998, they released an album called Psycho Circus. During the first week, more than 110, 000 copies of the album were sold.
KISS Group, 2013 Photo: Llann Wé² / Wikimedia Commons
In 2009, Ace Freilly released his next solo project, dubbed Anomaly. This album debuted at number 27 on the The Billboard 200 charts. Five years later, another songbook called Space Invader was released.
