American rock musician Anthony Kiedis performs music. He is most known for being the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ lead singer, lyricist, and founding member. To date, the band has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. The Red Hot Chili Peppers sold their song library for $140 million in May 2021.
Early Life
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 3, 1962, Anthony Kiedis was born. When Kiedis was three years old, his parents had divorced, and his father—aspiring actor John Michael Kiedis, who later went by the stage name Blackie Dammett—moved to Hollywood by himself.
After that, Kiedis was brought up in Grand Rapids by his mother Margaret (“Peggy”). Kiedis’s mother remarried, which resulted in the birth of his two half-sisters. He spent two weeks every summer in Los Angeles with his father, who by that time was supplementing his income as a failed actor by working as a drug dealer part-time.
These excursions rank among Kiedis’s favorite and most enjoyable childhood experiences. Kiedis relocated to Los Angeles in 1974 at the age of 12 to live with his father permanently.
Anthony was introduced to the world by John, who was still trafficking narcotics, and the two frequently smoked marijuana and used cocaine together. Kiedis unintentionally ingested heroin for the first time at the age of 14 after mistaking it for cocaine.
He started attending Fairfax High School, where he rapidly grew close to Flea, a classmate and potential bandmate. During a driver’s education course, the two became close. Flea, a jazz enthusiast and aspiring musician, was introduced to the punk rock genre by Kiedis. Also, read about Stan Kroenke
After seeing Hillel Slovak perform with his band Anthym while Kiedis was 15 years old, they became friends and later became bandmates. Kiedis graduated from high school in June 1980 with honors despite abusing drugs frequently throughout his time there. He then decided to enroll at UCLA to pursue writing.
Success
Early in the 1980s, Kiedis, Slovak, and Flea started making music together. Later, their other friend and former classmate Jack Irons joined them. They were influenced by Defunkt, a punk/funk fusion group. The quartet established Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem as their initial moniker.
They changed their moniker to Red Hot Chili Peppers after they started to gain popularity for their erratic performances at a nearby bar. Kiedis had a talent for coming up with crazy stunt ideas; as an example, he offered that the band members perform with nothing but socks covering their penises at a gig at a strip club in Hollywood.
The band became well-known in the area as a result of these stunts, and they started to book clubs all over the city. In 1984, RHCP released their self-titled debut album to generally negative reviews. The band started to receive more recognition and attention after the publication of their second album, “Freaky Styley.”
The album, which was released a year after its debut, went on to sell 175,000 copies. With their well-liked MTV music videos and lucrative international tours, the band soared to new heights of fame in the early 1990s.
More than 80 million albums by The RHCP have been sold globally. “Californication,” their most successful album in terms of sales, sold 15 million copies in 1999.
Kiedis developed his acting skills in addition to his music career by acting in movies like “Point Break” and “The Chase.”
Musical Style
Over the years, Kiedis has gotten inspiration from a variety of places. He recalls hearing Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” for the first time when he was 11 years old. His admiration of Prince’s musicianship and Grandmaster Flash’s rap-type vocals in high school had a big impact on his vocal style. Also, read about Justin Verlander
Kiedis started switching from rapping to singing in 1991, most notably on the tune “Under the Bridge.” He worked with vocal instructors, but it was still a difficult transition for him, and he frequently stated in interviews that he never thought his singing voice was “excellent.”
He didn’t truly feel his vocals had improved significantly until 1999’s “Californication,” which was released. Charles Bukowski’s works are a major influence on several of Kiedis’s lyrics.
Accolades
“Scar Tissue,” a book by Kiedis, topped the New York Times Best Sellers List in 2004. 2012 saw Kiedis and the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The RHCP has been nominated for 16 Grammys and has won 6 Grammys.
Personal Life
Everly Bear, Kiedis’ son with ex-girlfriend Heather Christie, was born in 2007. Christie and Kiedis called it quits in March 2018. When they started dating, Christie was 18 and Kiedis was 41. Beginning in 2012, when she was 19 and he was 50, they dated for two years.
According to rumors, this romance served as inspiration for the 2016 RHCP album “The Getaway.”
Since Kiedis claimed that Mike Patton, the singer for Faith No More/Mr. Bungle, had stolen his stage and music video performing style for their biggest hit, “Epic,” the two have been at odds. Patton has asserted over the years that Kiedis had Mr. Bungle removed from a number of important festival and performance lineups.
Sonny Bono and his wife Cher, who was then married, were good friends of Kiedis’s father. The godfather of Kiedis was Sonny Bono.
Drug Addiction
Kiedis and the other Red Hot Chili Peppers members have long struggled with drug addiction. Even though he was briefly expelled from the group in 1986 as a result of his severe drug usage, Kiedis was frequently the one attempting to keep the band together.
Guitarist Slovak passed away from a heroin overdose in 1988, following an international tour in promotion of their album “Uplift” from 1987. Kiedis excused himself from the funeral by saying that the tragic circumstances appeared too dreamy and weird.
A few weeks later, he was persuaded to enter treatment by a buddy. After five years of sobriety, he relapsed in 1994. For the following few years, he was in and out of rehab, but since December 2000, he has apparently maintained sobriety.
Anthony Kiedis Net Worth
Anthony Kiedis Net Worth is estimated to be around $155 Million in 2022. Anthony is the owner of properties worth $30–$40 million in different parts of the country. For $3.65 million, he bought his Hollywood mansion overlooking the Sunset Strip in 2013. In 2015, he put this house up for sale for $4.3 million.
He invested $4.8 million in a house in Malibu that was close to Flea’s Malibu property in 2005. In the end, he spent $5 million to purchase the home next door, resulting in the creation of a two-acre coastal estate with a standalone value of $20–$30 million.
He has residences in Michigan, Las Vegas, and the North Shore of Kauai, which he purchased in 2005 for $2.6 million.
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