John Frusciante released his eleventh solo album Enclosure this week. It's another chapter in the ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist's remarkable recovery from the brink of tragedy. The meaningless sex got routine, the drinking and drug-taking monotonous, the fame and adulation nothing short of embarrassing.
- Where Does John Frusciante Live
- John Frusciante Back On Drugs
- What Happened To John Frusciante's Nose
- What Happened To John Frusciante Nose
- What Happened To John Frusciante Nose
On June 27, 1988, Red Hot Chili Peppers founding guitarist Hillel Slovak was found dead in his Hollywood apartment. Investigators later determined that Slovak died from a heroin overdose two days prior. The guitarist and his bandmate Anthony Kiedis had battled heroin addiction for years, but they made a joint effort to stay clean during a European tour earlier that year. When the band returned to the United States, Slovak started using again.
The news rocked the band to its core, so much that founding drummer Jack Irons suffered severe depression and left the group. With Kiedis and Flea (real name Michael Balzary) left to pick up the pieces, the band decided to press on. That’s when longtime fan and guitar prodigy John Frusciante entered the mix.
Frusciante had no prior band experience under his belt at the time. However, the kid had the necessary guitar licks to compete, and he was even auditioning for guitar gigs in other bands, most notably for Frank Zappa. But Frusciante opted for the Chili Peppers because the band would let him “be a rock star, do drugs and get girls,” while Zappa’s outfit strictly banned such behavior.
Yet, the most important thing was creative chemistry. When Frusciante first jammed with Flea, both immediately realized that they shared a significant musical connection:
”Flea and I had it the first time we played together,” says Frusciante, who was only eighteen and an ardent Chili Peppers fan with no prior band experience when he joined the band in 1988. ”There was something there. But we developed it. Flea once read something [jazz drummer] Elvin Jones said about having chemistry with somebody: ‘You gotta be willing to die for a motherf*cker.'”
Kiedis and Flea quickly decided to invite Frusciante into the band. When the latter called the young guitarist with the news, he took it calmly at first. But as soon as the call was over, Frusciante ran around his house screaming in celebration and left a few permanent boot marks in the walls.
Where Does John Frusciante Live
“I Was Confused”
With the addition of Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith, the recovered band enjoyed its first mainstream success on major radio stations and music charts with 1989’s Mother’s Milk, and their 1991 follow-up, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, went on to sell more than seven million copies, thanks in part to their decision to embark on an massive international tour to support the album.
The still-young Frusciante was caught off guard by the band’s newfound international fame, however, and he didn’t know what to do:
It was too high, too far, too soon. Everything happened or better everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn’t cope with it. (Via NY Rock)
Frusciante’s fandom for the Chili Peppers began when Kiedis, Flea, Slovak, and Irons were the biggest local act in the Hollywood club scene. Back then, the shows were so intimate, “The audience [felt] no different from the band at all.” But now they were touring big arenas, and Frusciante thought the intimacy her cherished was gone forever.
5 August 2018, 06:00 | Updated: 5 August 2018, 13:14
The former guitarist was spotted hanging out with Flea last weekend, but what are chances of him ever rejoining the band?
John Frusciante Back On Drugs
John Frusciante first joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers at just 18 years old, following the death of Hillel Slovak in 1988 due to a heroin overdose.
What Happened To John Frusciante's Nose
Frusciante went on to battle his own heroin addiction, which - after leaving the band in 1992 - almost cost him his life.
Despite re-joining the band in 1998 and going on to release Californication in 1999 followed by By The Way in 2002, Stadium Arcadium (2006) was to be the last album he recorded with Anthony Kiedis and co.
While it seems since his official departure from the band in 2009 that the California funk rockers had finally found a fit in Josh Klinghoffer, there may be fresh hope that Frusciante could return to them once more.
What Happened To John Frusciante Nose
As Alternative Nation reported back in February, a fan on Reddit recalled his amazing chance to speak to the guitarist via Skype thanks to a favour from a friend.
In the account, wesleyredhot claims he spoke to the rocker and quizzed him on whether he'd ever re-join the band.
What Happened To John Frusciante Nose
He then revealed his response, noting: 'He said that destiny made him fall in love with other things that made him distance himself from a Rock Band, but in the end he completed that one day he might come back, he just thinks it's still far from happening but it's a possibility for one day maybe.'
See his full account what appears to be a still of Frusciante below:
Credit: Reddit/wesleyredhot
I just met John Frusciante on 12/20/2017 on Skype and asked him a few questions! =) from r/RedHotChiliPeppers
Months later John and Flea renewed fans' hopes once more by appearing together at an LA boxing match, and being photographed in public for the first time in over a decade.
See an image of the musicians enjoying each other's company here:
While there's nothing to suggest it means anything for John and the Californian band, we can but live in hope.
Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers pay tribute to Hillel Slovak:
Watch the evolution of the Red Hot Chili Peppers:
Photo credit: Eamonn and James Clarke/Eamonn and James Clarke/PA Images