Scar Tissue

by Anthony Kiedis, Larry Sloman (With)

Overview

Now in paperback, the New York Times bestseller by one of rock's most provocative figures

Scar Tissue is Anthony Kiedis's searingly honest memoir of a life spent in the fast lane. In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group's lyricist and dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride.

Whether he's recollecting the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses, or retracing a journey that has included appearances as diverse as a performance before half a million people at Woodstock or an audience of one at the humble compound of the exiled Dalai Lama, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption—a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401307455
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	10/19/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	7,384
Product dimensions:	5.14(w) x 7.96(h) x 1.32(d)

About the Author

Anthony Kiedis grew up in L.A. and formed The Red Hot Chili Peppers in high school. The group's breakthrough album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, was recorded in 1991; their 1999 album Californication sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Their latest album, By the Way, is one of their best sellers yet. The band toured extensively in 2003. Kiedis lives in the Los Angeles area.

Read an Excerpt

One day I showed up to rehearsal and Jack and Hillel and Flea, who probably loved me more than any three guys on earth, said, "Anthony, we're kicking you out of the band. We want to play music and you obviously don't, so you have to go. We're going to get a different singer and we're going to go on so you're out of here."

I had a brief moment of clarity where I realized that they had every right in the world to fire me. It was really an obvious move, like cutting off your damn foot because it was gangrened so that the rest of your body wouldn't die. I just wanted to be remembered and acknowledged for those two or three years that I had been in the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a founding member, a guy who started something, a guy who made two records, and whatever else would come after that, that was theirs. Part of me was very genuine in letting go of the band. But part of what made it so easy for me to accept was that now I knew I had zero responsibilities and I could just go off with Kim and get loaded.

Much to their amazement I just shrugged and said, "You guys are right. I apologize for not contributing what I should have been contributing this whole time. It's a crying shame, but I understand completely and I wish you guys the best of luck."

And I left.

Editorial Reviews

Most rocker autobiographies are ponderously lame. Anthony Kiedis's Scar Tissue . . . is not. It's thoughtful, candid, and entertaining.

GQ

Kiedis' narrative of the funky, feckless Peppers' dues-paying years is vivid and inspiring.

Newsweek

For a musician who has spent the better half of his life either intoxicated or on a drug high, Kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has produced a surprisingly detailed account of his life. Raised in the 1960s and '70s by a drug dealer father who first introduced his preteen son to drugs by mashing them into bananas, the high school delinquent and UCLA dropout seemed destined for a life of rabble-rousing until his high school band-cofounded by close friends Michael "Flea" Balzary and Hillel Slovak-took off and became one of the most popular groups of the 1990s. Though he peppers his book with little known facts (for instance, the author narrowly missed being named Clark Gable Kiedis), the punk-funk rocker dedicates too few pages to his introspective music-writing process and too many to his incessant drug use and revolving door of girlfriends (which included actress Ione Skye, singer Sin ad O'Connor and director Sofia Coppola). But while Kiedis fails to scratch beneath the surface of his fast-lane life, his frankness is moving, especially toward the end of the book, when his mea culpa turns into a full-blown account of recovery and redemption. (Kiedis has been sober for almost four years.) Though not generally as articulate as Marilyn Manson's similar autobiography, Kiedis's story of childhood drug use, adolescent fame and hard-won maturity will strike a chord with fans of Drew Barrymore's Little Girl Lost. Agent, David Vigliano. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly