A John Frusciante biography        

John was born on March 5, 1970 in New York. He is the son of Gail Frusciante, who appears on Under the Bridge singing background vocals in the outro part. For the most part, John's childhood remains a mystery, though some have speculated that he was abused by his father due to comments he made in a 1994 VPRO interview. I cannot and will not substantiate those claims. What I do know is that when John was young, he used to play a game with his friends where if one of them was about to fart they'd yell "cuddle" and the other person would put their face right up to the ass so as to get the purest smell of gas. He would also wrestle with his friends and that's when he got his first erection. When John was nine he had his first fantasies about bisexuality.

 In the fifth grade, John went to his first rock show at the Whiskey-a-go-go where he saw the Sensible Shoes and Martha and the Muffins - his first concert was AC/DC at the LA Forum, though he claims the first time he really tripped out to music was with Kiss, but I'm not sure whether that was live or not. At about age ten, he learned to play Italian traditional songs and the Sex Pistols album "Nevermind the Bollocks" on his grandfather's Gibson acoustic, and said ever since he was a little kid he knew that would be the instrument he'd be good at. He got his first guitar shortly after that, a Fender Stratocaster. He says that during his youth his guitar was his best friend; well, that and his right hand. John masturbated a lot.

As a youngster, he came very close to being in Frank Zappa's band. He stood in line for the audition for hours, but ultimately "chickened out" as he put it. Zappa has always been a big influence on John, along with Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie. When he was 16, he left home to find a job and an apartment. For those wondering if he ever took guitar lessons, he went to guitar school at some point, though he didn't ever go to class - he says he pretty much did coke the whole time. So I guess the answer's no. He does have other artistic talents - he paints and writes poetry and plays, you can see some of his artwork at the Confused to Meet You website.

John first saw the Chili Peppers when he was 15 at the Variety Arts Center in Cali, and said that after that "their music meant everything to me." He and Hillel would talk, and once Hillel asked him if he would want the Chili Peppers to become so big that they could play the LA Forum, and John said no, that would ruin the whole vibe of the band. After Hillel died, John was the obvious choice to take over being the Peppers' biggest fan, and he was nabbed out of a Thelonious Monster audition five minutes before Bob Forrest was going to ask him to join. As my friend Erico says, maybe they could have been as big as the Chili Peppers. John's Chili Pepper debut was shortly thereafter, given that he could already play all the songs. He was first seen at MTV's 2Hip4You festival.

John grew disenchanted with the group and confused about their popularity after the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and refused to go on stage during a show at one of Japan's biggest venues. He and Anthony hadn't talked in like a year, and John decided he wanted to leave. The band persuaded him to play that night, but he took a plane home the next day and began his solo career as a junkie. When asked what to tell the fans, John said, "Tell them I went crazy."

John recorded his first album Niandra La Des and Usually Just a T-Shirt on his eight track before, during and after his Chili Pepper days. He says he recorded the album during his time with the band because he wanted to pursue his own musical avenues in addition to the Peppers. Niandra was released in 1994, right when John was smack in the middle of his heroin addiction (no pun intended). For a long while this album has been largely unavailable due to the fact that Rick Rubin sold American Records to Sony. But now Sony has re-released Niandra, and you can probably find it at your local Tower Records.

In 1997, John released Smile from the Streets You Hold, a much more painful album than its predecessor and, by John's own account, a rather poor effort. John says that he only released Smile for drug money, and that he's so ashamed of it that he has a bunch of copies in his house that he won't even share with his friends. Nonetheless, many Frusciante fans find Smile to be the better album, so whatever floats your boat.

Also in '97, John's friends finally persuaded him to enter rehab. He says that the junkie part of his life had run its course, and that it was time for a new chapter. Flea then asked him if he'd like to rejoin the band, and he of course consented. John's first gig with the reformed Peppers was a KBLT radio interview, where he, Flea and Anthony play a bunch of acoustic songs. The band no longer plays tunes from One Hot Minute, because it didn't involve John, nor from Mother's Milk, mostly cuz John doesn't like his playing on that album. Many people wonder whether John will remain with the band this time around, and he himself says he can't predict the future. But he has come to grips with stardom, seeing how some of his idols like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix were role models in the way that they made so many people happy.

Big thanks to Brian for this biography

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