Anthony Kiedis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Anthony Kiedis was born in 1962 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After his parents divorced he grew up with his mother, but at the age of twelve he moved in with his father in Hollywood. At Fairfax High School in Los Angeles he became best friends with Flea, who introduced him to punk rock. Through Flea he met the guitarist Hillel Slovak.

Music and breakthrough

The three took inspiration from Defunkt, a band that mixed punk and funk. With the drummer Jack Irons they played a single gig in 1983 under a long, funny name, performing one song on which Kiedis rapped about the music. Soon they were called Red Hot Chili Peppers. After the 1984 debut, the funk pioneer George Clinton produced the second album, Freaky Styley (1985). The years that followed were hard: Kiedis and Slovak became addicted to heroin, and Slovak died in 1988. The band carried on and became one of the biggest rock bands of the 1990s. Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) contains Give It Away and Under the Bridge.

Influence

Kiedis began as someone who whipped up the crowd and grew into a singer. His rhythmic, half-rapped vocals fitted Flea's slapping bass perfectly and made the Chili Peppers the model of funk rock. His lyrics were at first mostly about sex and life in Los Angeles; later they became more personal, about love, addiction and loss. Since 2000 he has said that he is clean. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band.

Listening

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still Pop^NL Reader