Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy On Ace Frehley: ‘He Was My First Real Guitar Hero’

Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has opened up about the profound impact the late Ace Frehley had on his life, revealing that the original Kiss guitarist was his childhood idol despite playing a different instrument.

In a candid new interview with Australia’s Blunt magazine, Portnoy discussed the recent passing of Frehley, admitting that he has found the news difficult to accept given his history with the band.

“Well, yeah, losing Ace is a big one,” Portnoy told the publication. “For me, I was a Kiss fanatic back in the ’70s. I saw them in ’77 at Madison Square Garden. I saw ’em in 79 at the [Nassau] Coliseum, and Ace was my first real guitar hero. Even though I was a drummer, he was my favorite member of Kiss. And my nickname in elementary school even was Ace. So, yeah, it’s been tough one to process.”

To cope with the loss, Portnoy has been immersing himself in the band’s classic catalog.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of old Kiss stuff and revisiting some of the great old shows that are on YouTube,” he said.

Portnoy‘s connection to the “Spaceman” went beyond just fandom. The drummer recalled the privilege of eventually sharing the stage with the rock icon during a special event over a decade ago.

“I was fortunate enough to have played with both Ace and Peter [Criss] back in 2013 when I was the musical director at Eddie Trunk‘s 30th-anniversary concert,” Portnoy explained. “So, yeah, I have a lot of history as both a fan and a fellow musician with Ace, and it’s a really difficult loss.”

For Portnoy, the spectacle of Kiss was the catalyst for his entire career. Reflecting on that pivotal 1977 concert at Madison Square Garden during the Alive II tour, he described the sensory experience that convinced him to pursue music at just 10 years old.

“Being in that audience, even before the show started… seeing it not lit in the arena, smelling the p*t smoke in the air and just the excitement of the lights going down… and the bombs going off and the pyro, and that was it,” he recalled during separate interview with “PipemanRadio“. “From that point on, I knew that’s what I had to do.”

The drummer also drew a parallel between Kiss and The Beatles, noting how Frehley‘s role in the band was essential to their chemistry.

“Paul Stanley is the Paul McCartney character. Gene Simmons was the John Lennon character. Ace Frehley was the George Harrison character. They align even,” Portnoy argued. “When The Beatles came around, it was the first time there was a band of four characters… And it was the same with Kiss, when Kiss came around — you had four characters, and they were all bringing something to image of the band.”