Scar Tissue

Scar Tissue is the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, written with Larry Sloman. The book traces Kiedis's life from his childhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan, through decades of musical innovation, drug addiction, and recovery.

Anthony frames his story from his home in the Hollywood Hills, where a nurse administers intravenous ozone therapy as a preventive measure against hepatitis C, which he had previously eradicated with an herbal regimen. He notes the irony of now using a needle to remove toxins rather than introduce them.

He opens with a scene from his mid-twenties, strung out after a three-day cocaine binge, nearly killed by muggers in downtown Los Angeles before barely making it to a band gig in Arizona. He then rewinds to his origins. Born November 1, 1962, to John Michael Kiedis, a charismatic aspiring actor later known as Blackie Dammett, and Peggy Nobel, a warm midwesterner, Anthony grew up amid his parents' volatile marriage. In 1965 the family moved to California, but his parents split within a year. His mother remarried Scott St. John, his father's former best friend, a violent man whose instability marked Anthony's early childhood.

At 12, Anthony moved to Hollywood to live with Blackie, who introduced him to marijuana and cocaine dealing, took him nightclubbing with rock stars, and facilitated his first sexual experience with an 18-year-old girlfriend. He experimented with quaaludes, cocaine, LSD, and inadvertently snorted heroin at 14. He also began an acting career under the stage name Cole Dammett.

At Fairfax High School, Anthony met three people who would shape his life: Michael Balzary, later known as Flea, a shy, trumpet-playing Australian transplant who became his inseparable companion; Hillel Slovak, a gifted guitarist with whom he formed a deep bond; and Haya Handel, a girl he fell deeply in love with, whose parents forbade their relationship because Anthony was not Jewish. Meanwhile, he broke his back jumping off a building and began shooting cocaine at 14 while maintaining straight-A grades.

He enrolled at UCLA but felt alienated, and his drug use escalated. He dropped out, became homeless, and cycled through odd jobs and the streets. Inspired by Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" and the emerging hip-hop movement, he envisioned a path into music through rapping rather than traditional singing.

In February 1983, Anthony fronted Flea, Hillel, and drummer Jack Irons for a one-off performance at the Rhythm Lounge. The experience was revelatory. The group named itself the Red Hot Chili Peppers and developed a reputation for explosive live shows. They signed with EMI/Enigma, but Hillel and Jack quit to stay with their other band, What Is This, forcing Anthony and Flea to recruit replacements. They recorded their self-titled debut with producer Andy Gill of the post-punk band Gang of Four, though the sessions were contentious, and Anthony's cocaine addiction worsened. After touring 60 dates in 64 days across America, Hillel rejoined, restoring the original chemistry.

They recorded Freaky Styley with George Clinton producing in Detroit. Clinton mentored Anthony through vocal insecurities, but Anthony's heroin use became daily, and the band fired him. His mother arranged for him to fly to Michigan, where he endured 20 days of cold-turkey withdrawal at the Salvation Army and attended his first 12-step meetings. Flea invited him back, and Anthony wrote "Fight Like a Brave" on the plane home. He relapsed within two months.

The original foursome reunited with Jack Irons returning on drums and recorded The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. Both Anthony and Hillel continued using heroin. On June 25, 1988, Hillel died of a heroin overdose at 25. Anthony, still using, could not attend the funeral and fled with his girlfriend, Ione Skye, the teenage daughter of singer Donovan, to Mexico to kick heroin cold turkey.

Jack quit, unable to continue in an environment where friends were dying. A young guitar prodigy named John Frusciante, a teenage Chili Peppers fanatic, joined the band. Anthony checked into his first rehab, where his sponsor, Bob Timmons, took him to Hillel's grave, and Anthony finally broke down and grieved. After drummer D.H. Peligro was fired for his drinking, the band hired Chad Smith, a powerful Midwest drummer.

The newly configured band gelled under producer Rick Rubin. Anthony wrote "Under the Bridge" during a lonely freeway drive, reflecting on his alienation within the band and his relationship with Los Angeles. They recorded Blood Sugar Sex Magik while living together in a rented mansion, capturing their creative peak. Released in September 1991, the album became a massive commercial success, but John grew increasingly unhappy with fame. He sabotaged the band's Saturday Night Live performance of "Under the Bridge" by playing in a different key and, in May 1992, quit during a tour stop in Tokyo, telling Anthony he would die if he did not leave.

The band cycled through replacement guitarists before Dave Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction, joined in 1993. In January 1994, Anthony's five-and-a-half years of sobriety ended when a dentist administered intravenous Valium during a wisdom-tooth extraction, reawakening his addiction. He began a six-year cycle of relapses, hiding his drug use while the band struggled to record One Hot Minute, released in September 1995 to lukewarm reception. He checked into and escaped from rehabs, endured interventions, and confirmed a pattern identified in relapse-prevention classes: Every breakup precipitated a binge.

Dave's own drug use worsened, and in April 1998, the band fired him. Flea, exhausted and battling Epstein-Barr disease, said he would continue only if John returned. John had spent years in severe addiction but had recently gotten clean. When Flea asked him to rejoin, John sobbed and agreed. Anthony and John met at a Los Angeles restaurant and discovered they harbored no remaining resentment. Anthony bought John a 1962 Stratocaster guitar. When Anthony, Flea, John, and Chad reassembled in Flea's garage, Anthony immediately sensed the return of their collective magic.

The reunited band recorded Californication with Rick Rubin, a creative rebirth fueled by John's minimalist guitar style and Anthony's deeply personal lyrics. Anthony wrote "Scar Tissue" spontaneously outside Flea's garage. During recording, he began a relationship with Claire Essex, a 23-year-old he met at a New York restaurant. Both were recovering addicts, and their connection was intense but volatile. Released in June 1999, Californication became a global phenomenon, restoring the band's standing. Anthony's sobriety remained fragile, however. A doctor prescribed Ultram, a synthetic opiate, for shin splints, falsely telling him it was non-narcotic. During a trip to San Francisco in February 2000, Anthony and Claire impulsively got high together, and Claire overdosed on cocaine. Anthony continued relapsing between tour legs, checking into motels in downtown Los Angeles for week-long binges.

On Christmas Eve 2000, standing outside a meeting hall in Grand Rapids, Anthony considered driving to the ghetto to score but instead walked through the doors. December 24, 2000, became his sobriety date. This time he followed through with sustained daily effort: prayer, meditation, a weekly breakfast group with sober friends, and sponsoring other addicts.

The band recorded and released By the Way in 2002. Anthony wrote "Venice Queen" as a tribute to Gloria Scott, a beloved sober mentor who died of lung cancer. The band established pre-show rituals of meditation and a soul circle, and donated 5 percent of touring income to charity. As the book closes, Anthony reflects that his cravings diminish year by year but never fully disappear. He reframes his addiction not as an inherently bad experience but as one that equips him to help others, maintaining sobriety through daily practice, service, and the understanding that shortcuts lead only to being lost.