The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been a fundamental band in alternative music ever since they first debuted onto the MTV music scene, in the early 1990’s.
In 2004, the band’s lead singer and front man Anthony Kiedis, with help from author Larry Sloman, chose to release a riveting tell-all book revealing first hand details about his eccentric life and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ rise to fame.
The New York Times best-seller, which was poetically named “Scar Tissue”, divulged several fascinating and little known firsthand accounts about the band’s formation and its several members.
Here is a list of ten shocking unknown details about the popular alternative rock band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and its members:
Anthony Kiedis Loses His Virginity at Age 12
In his book, “Scar Tissue”, the lead singer discloses that he had lost his virginity at the extremely young age of 12 to one of his father’s girlfriends at the time.
The Death of Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak was a founding member and the original guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Slovak is rarely mentioned in regards to the band, because of his untimely death of a heroin overdose in 1988. The guitarist was a major influence on the band’s funk/rock sound and is featured in two of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ early albums, “Freaky Styley” and “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan”.
“Flea” (Michael Balzary) and the death of actor River Phoenix
An intriguing little known fact about the band’s bass guitarist, Michael “Flea” Balzary, is that he had accompanied River Phoenix to The Viper Club, a bar that is owned by Johnny Depp, on the tragic night of the young actor’s death. Not only was the famous bassist a witness to the heartbreaking events, which took place that night, but he was also present in the ambulance that transported River Phoenix to the hospital as well.
Anthony Kiedis’ Relationship with Sinead O’Conner
It’s no secret that Anthony Kiedis has had quite a few Hollywood girlfriends over the years, but the singer’s revelation in “Scar Tissue”, about the one Hollywood woman to break his heart was completely shocking. Apparently, after only dating a very short time, the Irish singer, Sinead O’Conner, broke the Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist’s heart by abruptly ending the relationship with a note.
Anthony Kiedis and Sylvester Stallone
It is a little known fact that Anthony Kiedis is actually an actor/musician. The singer received his first real taste of fame as a teenager, after he had received his first major acting role, playing Sylvester Stallone’s son in the 1978 movie “F.I.S.T.”.
A Red Hot Chili Peppers T.V. Show
Kiedis’ auto-biography, “Scar Tissue”, has recently been picked up by HBO developers, who are currently working with the singer to re-create the novel into a brand new TV series that will showcase Kiedis’ tumultuous childhood growing up in Los Angeles. According to Variety.com in a November 11, 2008 article entitled "Kiedis' rock story heading to HBO", in which Michael Schneider writes that the show is still in its very early stages of development and is not set for release until sometime in 2010 at the very earliest.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have proven themselves to be an integral element to Alternative Music, through their distinctive sound and trend setting musical style. Almost as unique as the band’s sound, are the fascinating stories that lie behind each of its members.
References:
1.Kiedis, Anthony; with Larry Sloman (2004)." Scar Tissue". London: Time Warner Books. ISBN 0-316-72672-9.
2. Michael Schneider (November 2008)"Kiedis' rock story heading to HBO". Variety.com
Sarah Chapnick - Sarah is a student of Journalism with a dedicated passion and keen ear towards finding great music. She currently works as the Concerts ...
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