John Frusciante was born on March 5, 1970 in Queens, New York. He was raised in a very musically inclined family. His father, John Sr., was a Julliard trained pianist and his mother, Gail, was a promising singer, but gave up singing to be a housewife. After his parents separated, John moved with his mother to California where he began playing guitar before his tenth birthday.
At the age of fifteen, John Frusciante saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform live and was instantly a devoted fan. He watched and idolized Hillel Slovak and learned nearly every song that he wrote. Other musical inspirations were Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Zappa.
When Frusciante was sixteen he dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music. Frusciante began playing with the Dead Kennedys' drummer D.H. Peligro who was good friends with Flea. In 1988 The Red Hot Chili Peppers had Peligro as their drummer and were looking for a replacement for DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight on guitar. Peligro suggested that the band let Frusciante audition due to his wide knowledge of the band and their songs. In the audition, Frusciante amazed the rest of the band and was unanimously asked to be the newest member of the band.
Frusciante proved to be a great fit for the band. He quickly bonded with Kiedis and Flea both musically and as friends. He also proved to be a great fit when it came to composing new songs. As the only member with professional training in music, Frusciante helped in composing new tunes for the band that showed great results in their following two albums (Mothers Milk, 1989, and Blood Sugar Sex Magik,1991).
After Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the bands popularity began to rise which Frusciante did not take very well. On that album tour John would constantly argue backstage with Anthony Kiedis saying that the band was getting too popular and he would rather be playing at small clubs like they used to. During the tour Frusciante finally cracked under the pressure and left the group heading back to California.
Back in California, John Frusciante's heroin use turned into a major problem. He began working on a solo career releasing two albums during his five-year hiatus from the group. He later admitted that the purpose of these albums was to get more money to feed his drug addiction. Frusciante who was already going bankrupt and dying hit rock bottom when his house burned down. He made it out of the house with severe burns on his arms.
In 1998 John Frusciante was convinced by friends to check into a drug rehabilition center. In rehab, Frusciante was diagnosed with a fatal oral infection that required him to have all of his teeth removed and replaced with dentures. He also had skin grafting done to replace the damaged skin on his forearms.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, on verge of breaking up, asked Frusciante to rejoin the band and he broke down into tears and replied "nothing would make me happier in the world". Frusciante rejoined the group wiht a new perspective on the band. He went on to help them produce three more albums as well as creating several solo albums of his own.
-Brian Smith
