Ace Frehley Was Working on a New Book

Ace Frehley was more than a decade into a prolific period of making new music prior to his death in October. In recent years, he was also working on a new book project, which will be released in 2026.

Aceland: Artifacts and Memories of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life has been in the works for over two years now, a collaboration between the late Kiss legend and authors Ken Sharp and Julian Gill. The forthcoming tome is currently over 550 pages and features fresh conversations with the guitarist for the book, as well as numerous other interviews with figures from all periods of his career.

“I’ve known Ace for many years through doing my official Kiss projects and also having the incredible thrill of him playing a guitar solo on one of my records, “ Rock Show,” from my Beauty in the Backseat album,” Sharp tells UCR.

What Can Fans Expect from the New Ace Book?

As the author shares, the scope of the book has changed since Frehley agreed to the initial concept. “We were speaking on the phone during the course of an interview for a project and the idea hit me about doing a guitar book with Ace and he responded very enthusiastically but over time that guitar book became much more music-centric,” he explains. “So the focus of this project, which will be structured in an oral history format, will be going deep in all aspects of Ace’s musicality, starting with an exhaustive section on his pre-Kiss bands, a section on Kiss and then [his activities] post-Kiss.

“We never wanted this to be a posthumous release, but it will certainly frame his musical legacy in a very positive way,” he adds. “It’s not a dirt book and there’s so much new ground on his pre-Kiss bands.”

Both authors have written extensively about and published numerous books on the band. Sharp was co-author of 2005’s Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Biography and subsequently worked with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons on 2013’s Nothin’ to Lose: The Making of Kiss (1972-1975).

Ace Also Liked the Idea of a Biopic

As the guitarist told UCR in 2024, even though he’d previously done a memoir, 2011’s No Regrets, he also liked the concept of sharing his story in a film format. Having recently seen 2023’s The Flash, he suggested that Ezra Miller would be the right choice to portray him. It was clearly a subject he’d been giving serious thought to. “I’ve always felt like my life is kind of like a movie. I really think when things slow down a little and I slow down on the touring and everything. I want to get a good script writer and and [tell] the Ace Frehley story,” he said. “Because I think my life is probably more interesting than anybody [and] any of the other three founding members of Kiss.”

READ MORE: The Moment Ace Frehley Knew He Needed to Leave Kiss

For the moment, fans can look forward to Aceland: Artifacts and Memories of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life, which Sharp says “definitely” will arrive in the new year and it’s one that fans will enjoy. “Julian and I are so deeply shattered by the passing of Ace,” he says. “We feel confident that our book will frame his enduring legacy and an extremely positive and celebratory manner.”