Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 1, 1962, Anthony Kiedis has grown up to be the lead singer of the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Anthony's parents divorced when he was very young, & while his sisters Jennifer & Julie stayed in Michigan w/his mother, he went to Los Angeles to live w/his father @ age eleven. Young Anthony tried his hand @ acting more than once & landed some minor roles in television shows & movies. He was usually cast as the punk or "street-smart" kid, a role that he had no trouble adapting to, thanks to his father, Blackie Dammet.

Anthony was quickly introduced into the sex, drugs & rock & roll of L.A. He lost his virginity @ age 12. He began dabbling in heroin by age 14, which he took accidentally thinking it was cocaine. & he met his two best friends @ Fairfax High School, when Flea had his friend, Tony Sherr, in a headlock. Anthony threatened Flea & Flea let go of Tony. Anthony & Flea became friends despite the despute that they first met about that day. Anthony shared a best friend w/Flea, who was Hillel Slovak. The three spent all their time together becoming life-long friends, getting high, talking about music & life.

Hillel had taught Flea how to play bass, so the two were playing one night @ the Rhythm Lounge when Anthony jumped onstage to rap a poem entitled "Out In L.A." that he'd written. The band was quickly asked to return & Red Hot Chili Peppers were born. After several weeks of good word of mouth & numerous gigs, they were playing @ the Kit Kat Club when Anthony suggested doing the encore in their socks. (See Sock Story for details as to how rumor has it as to how this practice came about.) So on impulse, they did & became one of the most famous club bands in L.A. Soon they'd landed a record deal w/an independent label, & were laying the foundation for becoming the international superstars they are today.

Anthony & Hillel were both abusing heroin throughout this time & while touring for Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Hillel became very ill. They realized they had to stop, so they did for a while. But not long after getting off the road, Hillel overdosed & died on the drug. Anthony was heartbroken, he retreated to a small Mexican fishing village for a few weeks before returning to L.A. Then, drummer Jack Irons decided to quit the band, so Anthony & Flea were left to pick up the pieces. They decided to go on w/Red Hot Chili Peppers, & hired prodigal guitarist John Frusciante as Hillel's replacement. Chad Smith was hired as the drummer & soon they were back in the studio to record their first gold album, Mother's Milk.

Anthony writes all of the lyrics to their songs, so he has written many songs about Hillel, including their first commercial dent, "Knock Me Down." W/their official breakthrough album BloodSugarSexMagik, the Chili Peppers became the most famous band in America, selling over 8 million copies in a year. Anthony had written a song called "Under the Bridge" about his heroin addiction & how all the drug dealers he had to cop from used to meet under the Golden Gate bridge. They were doing so well until 21-year-old guitarist John Frusciante decided he wanted out. Quitting right before Lollapolooza & Woodstock '94, Frusciante willingly was accepting the same fate that Hillel had battled with.

Never willing to give up, the Peppers quickly went in search of a new guitarist before finally deciding on Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. They played the festivals & went back into the studio to record One Hot Minute. Not doing nearly as well as its predecessor, the album didn't seem as funky, not as Chili Pepperish as most thought it should. So the Peppers went on break, & many thought they had broken up. Anthony was in a terrible motorcycle accident in 1996 shattering his wrist & breaking his arm in 14 places. Anthony then admitted in 1997 to MTV that he had been secretly using drugs w/n the last year while claiming to be clean. It looked as if the Red Hots were over, they were cancelling show after show. Flea & Dave did a Jane's Addiction reunion tour. But everything changed when John Frusciante came back into the picture.

In 1998, Frusciante & Flea began talking about John rejoining the band. So, the band met @ Flea's house in Australia to jam. Things seemed normal again, so they were officially reunited much to the delight of Pepper fans everywhere. They recorded their latest album Californication, & it has captured the attention of millions. It is the album of 1999, & I wouldn't give that honor away to just anyone.

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