Red Hot Chili Peppers Frontman dead at 46
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
July 21st, 2008
Hailey Paquette
Anthony Kiedis, of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) died on Saturday.
RHCP founded formed their iconic blend of punk & funk in the early 1980’s. Their hits include “Under the Bridge”, “Scar Tissue” and more recently, “Dani California”. Kiedis sang lead vocals and wrote the majority of the lyrics for the band. Their latest album, Stadium Arcadium, has been nominated multiple times for Grammys. Kiedis had spent the majority of the past 20 years writing music and touring with the band.
Kiedis is survived by his 10 month old son, Everly Bear, his sisters Julie and Jen, his brother James and his parents, John Kiedis and Margaret Idema.
He was born on November 1st, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At age 11, he moved with his father to Los Angeles, Calif., where he lived at the time of his death.
While in high school, he met Michael Balzary (more commonly known as Flea) and Hillel Slovak, who would become his bandmates. During his teen years, Kiedis began an acting career. This move landed him several small roles in TV shows and films, most notably the 1991 movie “Point Blank”. Kiedis attended UCLA for several years, but dropped out to form RHCP.
In 2004, Kiedis published a book titled “Scar Tissue”, a memoir about his life, which included his experiences in RHCP and his battles with a heroin addiction. Before his death, he had been sober for eight years.
Kiedis, 46, died at a hospital in southern California after being involved in a car accident.
