Photographer Rich Zimmermann shares memories of more than 50 Summerfests from behind the lens
Recent Work from Rich Zimmermann
October 27, 2025
Very sad to hear that we lost one of the founding members of the band KISS, "Ace" Frehley on October 16th.
Always wanted to photograph KISS but never got the chance. I did get to photograph Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley in 2021 at Summerfest.
He was a great guitarist who played with KISS from 1973 to 1982. He also played the farewell tours in 1996 and 2002.
"Ace" never took guitar lessons but he came from a family of guitar and piano players. His father also played the church organ.
In 1978 "Ace" did a solo album that went Platinum and then did a few more solo albums in addition to a few with his band Frehley's Comet.
His Gibson Les Paul guitar had smoke coming out of the neck and it had a spinning pyrotechnic feature.
We will miss the Space Ace or Spaceman as he was called when he was with KISS.
Enjoy some photos from 2021. I have one of those guitar picks from that night
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
Rock
Racing
Weddings
Scenics
About Rich Zimmermann
Rich Zimmermann is an internationally collected photographer based in Milwaukee,Wisconsin.
Since 1971, I have photographed the Milwaukee area music scene. In addition to that, I have photographed many weddings and done many portraits. Some of my favorite portraiture has been that of Indy car drivers in pit lane and on the grid at racetracks around Wisconsin. The excitement and adrenaline rush I get photographing on pit lane is equivalent to the fun and excitement of photographing musicians on stage or backstage!