Keyboardist Phil Ashley Passes Away At 65

Phil Ashley, a renowned keyboardist who has worked for KISS, Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, and Jeff Beck, passed away on July 10 at the age of 65, with the cause of death undisclosed.

In a statement by his family, the news was confirmed. “We are heartbroken at the passing of Philip Ashley. A loving father, husband & partner, a wonderful friend and passionately talented musician. … We hope to honor his life next year with a memorial service – details to come,” his family said.

Paul Stanley took to Twitter to express his grief, writing, “My dear friend Phil Ashley has died suddenly. He was a no bullshit, warm and kind soul who I shared so many hours talking with about the value of life, family and music. He played keyboards for many of the greats. The times we won’t have leaves me empty.”

Joe Satriani also added, “Our dear friend Phil Ashley passed away last week. He was a magnificent musician and human being. My deepest condolences to his family. R.I.P Phil, we will all miss you.”

Ashley studied classical music before he took interest in rock and other genres, saying in a statement on the KISS website that he “would just jump into different styles. I loved classical, I loved rock, I loved pop; and then, by the time I was 16 or 17, I was playing jazz. So, that gives you kind of an idea, I was all over the place, but I always just loved music.”

While he was known for his work with other artists, he was especially close to KISS, Paul Stanley being the most notable of them all. “We were always running into each other, whether it was parties or at the bus stop — because he went to school in the city — and I was always going into the city. So we’d always see each other and stop and talk about music. This was our thing, but we weren’t in the same bands because I was doing more of the Allman Brothers type stuff and he was doing a bit more of the hard rock stuff,” Ashley said to Kiss Concert History.