Last month, the surviving members of Kiss – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss – reunited on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., less than two months after Ace Frehley‘s death. Previously, they were part of the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees who received a medal from U.S. President Donald Trump during the December 6 Oval Office ceremony.
Talking to the Podcast Rock City, Peter Criss explained the heavy mix of pride and grief he felt during the event. His first reaction was pure disbelief.
“It was a dream. I could not believe this kid from the streets of Brooklyn, who grew up in four rooms with seven people, is standing in the Oval Office. It was surreal. The worst thing was [original Kiss guitarist] Ace [Frehley] wasn’t there. I really miss him dearly. We were very close.
“But his daughter was there, and his wife Jeanette, who’s a little kind of ill, but she was there, and [his daughter] Monique was there. And what touched me about it the most was that the president got up from the desk, walked around, and gave Jeanette a hug in her wheelchair, and then gave Monique a big hug and put the medal on her. That brought tears to my eyes. I miss him dearly. There’s a big loss without Ace,” Criss remembered.
Later, Criss said he was “sorry” that he and Ace never got a full studio project together: “That was a dream of mine, that he and I would do an album together. I’m sorry that never happened. And Ace did more solo albums than any of us in [Kiss]. He’s done, like, 10, easily, solo albums, more than us. He was working on his new album before his tragic accident, and he was getting ready to go on another tour. He was 74. God bless him. And there’ll never be another.”
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