John Frusciante aka Trickfinger turns 46 today. Born 3/5/70 in Queens, NY, to a Julliard-trained pianist father and vocalist mother, John and his mother moved to California when his parents split up. He began playing guitar around age 8, copying The Germs' GI, and then moved on to Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, and then Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Yes, early Genesis, Capt. Beefheart and the Replacements. John was a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers before he was a member. His guitar instructor auditioned for the band, and he saw them perform when he was 15. He became a Hillel Slovak (original guitarist for RHCP) fan and acquaintance, memorizing the group’s first three albums. John quit school at 16, moved to LA and took classes at the Guitar Institute of Technology for a short time.
Hillel Slovak died of a heroin OD in 1988, and the band’s drummer quit in reaction. Trickfinger was friends with drummer D.H. Peligro, who invited him to jam with him and his friend Flea, well-known bassist for the RHCP. Peligro was hired as the Peppers drummer and when Slovak’s replacement didn’t work out, Flea got him an audition for the job. John was considering an offer to join Thelonious Monster, but was elated when Flea called to tell him he had the job. His pal Peligro was soon fired over drug abuse issues.
Frusciante was 18 years old and wanted everything that the rock star life style had to offer. He had walked out of an audition for Zappa’s band after hearing its strict drug policy. By 1990, he had already tired of the hedonism and tried to become “extra-humble, extra-anti-rock star.” In his first 4 years with the group, they released Mother’s Milk and the Rick Rubin produced Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik (Billboard #3; 13X Platinum), were one of the world’s biggest attractions and had embarked on a world tour. But, John felt they had gone "too high, too far, too soon. Everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn't cope with it." On the world tour, he started to hear voices in his head telling him "you won't make it during the tour, you have to go now." John quit the band mid-tour in Japan in 1992.
From 1992 to 1998, John Frusciante journeyed to hell and back. He was with River Phoenix, in the middle of a long drug binge, when on October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed at LA’s Viper Room and died at the hospital from an OD. Drug addicted, depressed and talking warmly of death, impoverished, malnourished, friendless and professionally lost at sea – all describe John’s downward spiral. John nearly died of sepsis. He was holed up in his Hollywood Hills home, living in squalor, as shown in Johnny Depp’s documentary Stuff. A fire which John barely escaped destroyed the house and with it John’s vintage guitar collection.
Spoiler Alert: This is a redemption tale. Somehow, in late 1996, John quit using heroin “cold turkey.” But, he was unable to quit drinking or smoking crack cocaine until friends intervened and convinced him to go to rehab. By the end of 1997, John had regained his health and his desire to make music. Flea had always stayed in his life, and when RHCP decided to part ways with John’s replacement, Dave Navarro, Flea convinced Anthony Kiedis to give Trickfinger another shot. It didn’t take much to convince Anthony, who never had it so good as when he and John were writing songs together. After firing Navarro, RHCP were on the verge of breaking up. John re-joined the group in 1998, and the result was more “magik”: Californication, another 13X Platinum smash.
John’s second stint with RHCP would last until 2009. During that time, he remained sober, healthy and productive. Indeed, in 2004, he release 6 solo albums over 6 months, while still with the group. In late 2007, RHCP announced an indefinite hiatus due to the exhaustion of near-constant touring after Californication and its follow ups, Rick Rubin-produced By The Way and Stadium Arcadium.
In December, 2009, RHCP announced they would be getting back together to record a new album, but by then John had already decided to move on. He’s now making electronic “acid-house” music. John married Nicole Turley in 2011, but they divorced in 5 years later. She recently sought an increase in support payments from $20K/mo. to $75K/mo. In Solomonesque fashion, the court awarded her $53,000/month.
John Frusciante was inducted into the rock HOF with RHCP in 2011, but didn’t attend the ceremony. Frusciante is ranked among the greatest rock and roll guitarists of all time.
Happy Birthday to Trickfinger, and many, many returns of the day!
