KISS co-founder Gene Simmons has shared an old interview clip featuring original guitarist Ace Frehley describing multiple moments when Simmons intervened during emergencies. The post has renewed attention on the pair’s long, often complicated history as bandmates, and on how Frehley has characterised their relationship away from the stage.
In the clip, Frehley recounts an incident where he says he was drowning and Simmons—whom Frehley notes had lifeguard experience—pulled him out of a pool.
Frehley also describes a separate episode following a facelift, saying Simmons did not want him in a wheelchair and carried him down to a limousine as he was heading to recuperate. He then recalls a third situation in a hotel bathroom, alleging he fell asleep in a bath after taking Valium and that Simmons became concerned, involved hotel staff, and had the door broken down to reach him.
“He saved my life. He used to be a lifeguard. I was drowning and he pulled me out of the pool,” Frehley said in the video. “And then when I got my first face lift, he didn’t want me to be in a wheelchair. He says, ‘I don’t want to see you in a wheelchair.’ So he comes up to my room when I was going to the place where you recuperate, and he picked me up in his hands and carried me down to the limousine.”
“There was one other time I was taking a bath in a hotel and I took a bunch of Valium and I fell asleep. And the water was like up to my lip and somehow Gene sensed that something wasn’t right,” he explained. “I had the door bolted, so he got the manager. He couldn’t get in the room anyway and we were rooming together at the time. And they broke the door down and, you know, Thank God. [He saved my life] twice.”
Ace Lives On… https://t.co/KMUZJsYZse
— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) February 27, 2026
The resurfaced clip lands amid years of on-and-off public friction among KISS alumni, even as Frehley has repeatedly said the personal ties remain. In earlier Alternative Nation coverage, Blackie Lawless called out Gene Simmons for Ace Frehley remarks tied to the long-running back-and-forth surrounding the band’s legacy and former members.
For fans, the video is a reminder that, whatever the disputes over credits and business, there have also been moments of real-world support between two of the group’s most recognisable figures.
