John Frusciante

John Frusciante biography

John Anthony Frusciante ; born March 5, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums. Frusciante has an active solo career, having released ten albums under his own name, as well as two with Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally as Ataxia. His solo recordings include elements ranging from experimental rock and ambient music to New Wave and electronica. Influenced by guitarists of various genres, Frusciante emphasizes melody and emotion in his guitar playing, and favors vintage guitars and analog recording techniques.

Frusciante joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers at eighteen years old, first appearing on the band's 1989 album, Mother's Milk. The group's follow-up album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), was a breakthrough success. However, he was overwhelmed by the band's new popularity and quit in 1992. He became a recluse and entered a long period of drug addiction, during which he released his first solo recordings: Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and then Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997). In 1998, he successfully completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers with the album Californication (1999). His album To Record Only Water for Ten Days was made in 2001. On a creative spree, Frusciante released six solo albums in 2004; each album explored different recording techniques and genres. In 2009, Frusciante released The Empyrean and again parted ways with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As of 2011, Frusciante is currently working on his eleventh solo album. Frusciante has produced and/or recorded with the Wu-Tang Clan, The Mars Volta, George Clinton and others.

Frusciante has received critical recognition for his guitar playing, ranking at #18 on Rolling Stones list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 ; however, on the revised list in 2011, Frusciante was ranked at #72. He was also voted the best guitarist of the last 30 years in a 2010 BBC poll called "The Axe Factor". Frusciante was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 14, 2012 although he did not attend the ceremony.

Biography

1970-1987: Childhood and early life

Frusciante was born in Queens, New York on March 5, 1970. His father, John Sr., is a Juilliard-trained pianist, and his mother Gail was a promising vocalist who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother. Frusciante's family moved to Tucson, Arizona, and then Florida, where his father served as a Broward County judge until October 2010. His parents separated, and he and his mother moved to Santa Monica, California.

A year later, Frusciante and his mother moved to Mar Vista, Los Angeles with his new stepfather who, he says, "really supported me and made me feel good about being an artist." Like many young people in the area, he became intimately involved in the L.A. punk rock scene. At nine he was infatuated with The Germs, wearing out several copies of their record (GI). By ten, he had taught himself how to play most of (GI)'s songs. He has stated that he didn't really know what he was doing, and that he would play every chord with a single-finger barre.

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