Blackie Lawless has taken issue with remarks made by Gene Simmons regarding the death of Ace Frehley, describing them as “totally uncalled for.”
Speaking on the February 13 epidose of SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” the W.A.S.P. frontman responded to Simmons’ claim that Frehley’s death stemmed from “bad decisions.”
“That upset me greatly because, hey, I understand that Ace aggravated him over the years,” Blackie said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I get that. I was there and I saw both sides of the fence. But at the same time, if he wants to do a commercial for dr*g abuse, wait six months. Dr*gs are still gonna be a problem six months down the road. My friend’s body is still — [Ace‘s] body’s not even cold yet and [Gene is] saying the things that he’s saying.”
“I got great respect for Gene, but that was totally uncalled for,” he continued. “He did not need to do that. Like I said, dr*gs are still gonna be a problem six months down the road. If you wanna make a a comment about it then, do it, but don’t do it about this. That was totally uncalled for.”
After host Eddie Trunk pointed out that Ace had long struggled with balance problems, Blackie agreed.
“We’d be walking down the street sometimes, and he would literally just crash right into me. We would be in restaurants, go to get up from the table, he’d crash into me. One time we were at Trader Vic’s [restaurant] here in Beverly Hills, and we went to stand up, and I could tell he was, you know, he was losing it. And I went to grab him, and when I did, I hit the table. He ends on top of me, food flies up in the air and there’s these four little blue-haired ladies sitting next to us. There’s food — it looked like something out of a bad sitcom. He’s laying on top of me. He goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I go, ‘I’m trying to help you.’ But that was life with him, because, like I said, he had that problem with his equilibrium in his left ear.”
Blackie continued: “When I would see him, the first question that I would ask him when they would come back from the tour, ‘How many times did you fall down on this tour?’ Because he would do this thing where he would lean back, like he’s doing a limbo and he’s playing guitar, and Gene would come lean over the top of him. His equilibrium would go out, and when that did, his legs would shoot out and it would kick Gene. Gene would fall on top of him, but they would keep on playing. And people just thought, over a period of time, it was part of the show. Gene knew all of this. So to say that for someone who had been as clean as long as [Ace] had been, to blame it on that, that was uncalled for.”
Simmons first made those comments in an interview with the New York Post, where he discussed both the circumstances surrounding Ace’s death and the difficulties that marked his later life. He said at the time: “He refused [advice] from people that cared about him — including yours truly — to try to change his lifestyle. 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.”
Simmons later took to X to apologize for his comments, writing: “On reflection, I was wrong for using the words I used. I humbly apologize. My hand to God I didn’t intended to hurt Ace or his legacy but upon rereading my words, I see how it hurt everyone. Again, I apologize. I’ve always loved Ace. Always.”
The Morris County Medical Examiner reported that Frehley died from blunt-force head injuries sustained in a fall, with the manner of death officially classified as accidental. He was 74.
