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Quick Facts
- NAME: Anthony Kiedis
- OCCUPATION: Singer
- BIRTH DATE: November 01, 1962 (Age: 50)
- EDUCATION: Fairfax High School, University of California Los Angeles
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Grand Rapids, Michigan
- ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio
Best Known For
Anthony Kiedis is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their 1991 alternative rock album BloodSugarSexMagik sold more than 4 million copies.
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Play NowAnthony Kiedis. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:28, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596.
Anthony Kiedis. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Anthony Kiedis." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 06:28 http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596.
"Anthony Kiedis," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Anthony Kiedis," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Anthony Kiedis [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596.
Anthony Kiedis, http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Anthony Kiedis. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/anthony-kiedis-380596. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
The energetic singer of the alternative rock group, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis was born on Nov. 1, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kiedis' godfather was Sonny Bono, of Sonny & Cher fame. His parents split when Anthony was three. After getting into trouble at school, he moved to California to be with his dad. His father made most of his money selling drugs,
but also dabbled in acting. It was during these years that young Kiedis was exposed and influenced by the world of art, sex, music, and drugs.
Singer, actor, writer. Born on November 1, 1962, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis has become one of best-known figures in alternative rock. His parents split up when he was very young. He lived with his mother, Peggy, in Michigan and visited his father, John, in California. While with his father, Kiedis was exposed to the Los Angeles club scene where he got a chance to see such rock acts as the Eagles, Neil Young, Deep Purple, and Rod Stewart.
Developing an aversion to authority at an early age, Kiedis acted out in school. He eventually convinced his mother to agree to let him live with his father in California. In his early teens, Kiedis moved in with his father and soon began experimenting with drugs. He started smoking marijuana and later tried heroin, cocaine, and Quaaludes.
His father earned much of his money from dealing marijuana and other illegal substances, according to Scar Tissue, Kiedis’s official autobiography. By the mid-1970s, John Kiedis decided to try to make as an actor, taking classes and the stage name Blackie Dammet. Anthony also started acting, using his own stage name Cole Dammet. He landed a few commercials and small parts.
Aspiring Musician
At Fairfax High School, Kiedis met and made friends with Michael Balzary—better known later as Flea—and Hillel Slovak. Slovak had a band known as Anthym and Balzary eventually joined it as the bass player. Kiedis acted as the MC for some of their gigs. They were also interested in the emerging punk scene and caught shows by such acts as Black Flag.
Kiedis moved out of his father’s place to live with a friend during the latter part of high school. Despite living in the midst of a party scene, he was able to keep up his grades. Kiedis did well enough to get accepted to UCLA. College, however, did not hold his interest for long.
In 1982, Kiedis found inspiration for his vocal styling from the hit song, “The Message,” from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. He started a band with friends Slovak and Flea—although they were already in different bands—with Jack Irons on drums the following year. The group that would become known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers became a popular fixture on the L.A. club scene.
The group quickly went through a line-up change when Slovak and Irons left when their other band What Is This landed a record deal. Kiedis and Flea pressed on with their innovative funk-punk sound, bringing in guitarist Jack Sherman and drummer Cliff Martinez.
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