Guitar player for the famous rock band the "red hot chili peppers". He joined the band in 1989 after the
death of guitarist Hilel Slovak. When he joined he was only 18 and he was already a huge Chili Peppers fan, going to every single concert they would play in the L.A area where the band was from. He was to record 2 albums with the peppers, "Mothers Milk" and multi million selling masterpiece, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" before quitting in 1992 in the midst of a world tour. He decided to quit the band because the "arena shows" they were playing made him angry because he felt the band had lost what he liked about them the best.
The years that followed in his
life were very obscure due to a heavy drug addiction that almost drove the young guitarst to his
death. During this time he recorded two solo albums "ninandra lades & usually just a t-shirt" and "smile from the streets you hold". The sound of these albums is very dark and melancholic and for lack of a better couple of words "beeautifully
weird".
By 1997 his friends realized the shape that John was in and convinced him to get himself back into
life, clean and healthy. John checked himself into rehab and after a few months he rejoined the chili peppers, who had just parted with guitarist Dave Navarro. in 1998 they went into the studio to record the album "Californication" which marked the comeback of the guitarists. This album sold millions of records worldwide.
In 2000 he recorded his 3rd solo album "to record only
water for ten days". This album has a heavy enphasis on simple song structures. John recorded a video for every track of this album but he's said to have destroyed them all except for the video for the song "Going Inside" which was released on T.V. An internet album for his fans followed soon.
In 2002 he recorded the album "by the way" with the chili peppers and once again the album was a major succes worldwide.
in 2004 he records a new solo album called "Shaddows Collide with
People". This album is extremely varied in structure and theme. Songs range from acustic folk tunes, to grunge inspired heavier pieces, to instrumental keyboard solos.
Again in 2004 John announces to his fans that he
will release 6 albums in 6 months, an incredible task that he said would rid his albums of all the over production and focus more on the songs rather than the production of them.
The albums were:
"The
will to
death"
"Courtains"
"DC EP"
"A Sphere in the heart of silence"
"Automatic Writing" (Under the band
name Ataxia)
"Inside of emptiness"
All these albums are
hard to describe in terms of style because they vary so much, a great example of his
genius for song writing.
In terms of guitar playing, it can be described as simple yet moving. No two albums are the same for john as he is always challenging himself in terms of his playing. His use of warm chords and melodic phrasing have helped identify his sound as truly unique. His main strenght is on stage. There he is able to twist songs and add solos and vocal harmonies (he has one of the most beautiful, creative, and "in tune" voices in the
rock world).
John Frusciante is truly an amazing guitar player. His ability to create music is undoutedly of the highest level. His guitar playing has placed him on top as one of the most inovative and creative guitar players in the
rock world today.
