Rock music fans have found themselves both mourning and celebrating this November as two legendary bands, Soundgarden and KISS, navigated milestones marked by loss and remembrance. Both groups, icons of their respective eras, have spent the past month honoring departed members while forging ahead with new projects and heartfelt tributes—reminding the world just how deeply intertwined music, memory, and legacy can be.
Soundgarden, the Seattle grunge pioneers whose thunderous sound defined a generation, have been quietly at work on an album that many thought might never see the light of day. The record, featuring the final recordings of frontman Chris Cornell, has been in progress since Cornell’s tragic death in 2017. On November 15, 2025, guitarist Kim Thayil spoke with ABC Audio on the red carpet at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, offering a candid update on the album’s painstaking journey.
“We’re missing a member in making these judgements,” Thayil admitted, referencing the irreplaceable presence of Cornell. “We need to spend time to learn the material, reacquaint with it and think about the direction in which the material can go in order to make it the best that it can possibly be.” According to ABC Audio, Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron, and bassist Ben Shepherd have been making critical decisions about the album, working closely with producers who previously collaborated with Cornell. The process, Thayil explained, is as much about honoring Cornell’s vision as it is about the band’s own creative instincts. “We always think, ‘What would Chris like, what would he do, what do we like?’” he said. “The producers’ input on that regard, ’cause they all have worked with Chris before, is very helpful.”
The emotional weight of Cornell’s absence was palpable during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony itself. Thayil, Cameron, and Shepherd reunited on stage to perform in tribute to Soundgarden’s induction. They were joined by a veritable who’s-who of rock royalty: Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless, Americana star Brandi Carlile, and original Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto. The night, a celebration of Soundgarden’s influence and resilience, will be broadcast as an ABC primetime special on January 1, 2026—offering fans worldwide a chance to witness a historic moment in rock history.
While Soundgarden’s journey has been marked by the quiet persistence of creation, KISS, the flamboyant juggernauts of glam rock, have spent the past month in public mourning for founding guitarist Ace Frehley. Frehley, known affectionately as “the Spaceman,” died on October 16, 2025, at age 74 after suffering a fall in his studio. His passing left a void in the world of rock, felt most deeply by those who built the KISS legacy alongside him.
On November 14, 2025, KISS took the stage in Las Vegas for their first performance since Frehley’s death, headlining the KISS Kruise: Landlocked event. Before launching into their trademark spectacle, frontman Paul Stanley paused to address the crowd. “Obviously, before we get going — and we’re going to have an awesome time — we just wanted to take a moment to think about somebody who was at the foundation of this band, and we’re talking about Ace,” Stanley told the audience, as captured in a fan video and reported by various outlets.
Stanley continued, “We certainly had differences, but that’s what family is about.” He then led a moment of silence in Frehley’s honor, inviting concertgoers to reflect. “Why don’t we take a moment, little quiet, and think about him looking down on us, and let’s have a moment for Ace.” The crowd responded with a rousing chant of “Ace! Ace! Ace!” and, at Stanley’s urging, held plastic candles aloft—a sea of flickering lights for a fallen star.
Frehley’s journey with KISS was as storied as the band itself. He co-founded the group in the early 1970s, lending his distinctive guitar work and persona to the band’s meteoric rise. After departing in 1982 to pursue a solo career, Frehley returned for a high-profile reunion tour in 1996, remaining with KISS until 2002. In recent years, health struggles had forced him to step back from the stage; in September 2025, he canceled a California performance due to what he called “a minor fall in his studio,” later calling off the remainder of his tour as medical issues persisted.
When Frehley’s family confirmed his passing, their grief was palpable. “We are completely devastated and heartbroken,” they said in a statement. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth.”
KISS’s surviving founders, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, also released a joint tribute: “We are devastated by the passing of Ace Frehley. He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history.” They were joined by Peter Criss, another founding member, in attending Frehley’s funeral in The Bronx on October 22, 2025—a gathering that underscored the enduring bonds forged in music, even amid personal differences and years apart.
For both Soundgarden and KISS, the past month has been a testament to the complicated, bittersweet nature of legacy in rock and roll. Soundgarden’s ongoing work on Cornell’s last recordings is a labor of love, shaped by loss but driven by hope that fans will one day hear the frontman’s voice again—framed by the care and respect of his bandmates. As Kim Thayil put it, the process is about “making it the best that it can possibly be,” a standard that surely echoes Cornell’s own relentless pursuit of artistic excellence.
KISS, meanwhile, has chosen to honor Frehley’s memory not just with words, but with the communal rituals of performance and remembrance. Their Las Vegas tribute, filled with emotion and unity, was a reminder that even the most theatrical of bands are, at their core, families—bound together by music, history, and, yes, the inevitable tensions that come with both.
As the year draws to a close, fans of both bands find themselves looking forward: to Soundgarden’s long-awaited album, to the televised Hall of Fame ceremony, and to whatever comes next for KISS as they carry on without their Spaceman. In the end, these stories aren’t just about endings—they’re about the ways in which music endures, connecting generations and keeping memories alive, one song and one tribute at a time.
