John Frusciante | Artist
John Frusciante is an American rock guitarist born 1970 in Queens New York. He is widely known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but has performed with other bands and released 16 solo albums. His father, John Sr., is a Julliard-trained pianist, and his mother Gail was a promising vocalist. He and his mother relocated to Los Angeles when John was young and he immediately became involved in the local punk rock scene. By age ten, he had taught himself how to play the songs off the Germs album GI, and began studying guitarists such as Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix and, especially, Frank Zappa. Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers at age 18 after the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak and first appeared on the band's album Mother's Milk (1989). His second album with the band, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) became their breakthrough hit, but overwhelmed by the sudden stardom, Frusciante quit in 1992. He became a recluse and fell into drug addiction but in 1998 he completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the band. Their next album, Californication sold 15.4 million copies. It was followed by By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006). Frusciante left again in 2009 to focus on his solo work, and rejoined in 2019. The artist was also in the band Ataxia with Josh Klinghoffer and Fugazi's Joe Lally. As for solo work, Frusciante has to-date released 16 studio albums, including collaborations with Klinghoffer and Omar Rodriguez from The Mars Volta. Standout albums include Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994), To Record Only Water For Ten Days (2001), Shadows Collide With People (2004), The Will to Death (2004), Inside of Emptiness (2004), Curtains (2005) and The Empyrean (2009). Frusciante has been greatly influenced by progressive rock acts like Genesis, King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator and Yes, mentioning them in multiple interviews. He wrote an essay for the Yes box set, The Word Is Live, released in 2005.
Artist Website: johnfrusciante.com
Featured Albums: John Frusciante
Related Artists: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta, Trickfinger, Josh Klinghoffer
