Born in Queens, New York like many rockstars John Frusciante was the lead guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers three different times. You’ve probably not heard his name a lot, but his legacy and story will show you a perspective on the reward of knowing when to step out momentarily and how that will positively influence your success.
For some context, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a rock band that formed in the early 80’s. Nowadays most famously recognized for having their logo reprinted on millions of shirts, but very early on, they were playing small gigs at bars in California. During this period, Frusciante started frequenting them and fell in love with his music, learning all of their riffs and solos, and he even befriended Michael “Flea” Balzary (bassist), whom he would start frequenting to jam from time to time.
The band started to get some traction as they played and released 3 albums before Frusicante ever touched the stage, but they didn’t have much commercial success. Unfortunately in 1988, Hillel Slovak left the band to focus on another project and suffered from an overdose shortly after, which prompted Jack Irons (drummer) to leave as well. This event left the band devastated and with no idea where to find half a band.
Flea proposed to Anthony Keidis (vocalist) to audition Frusciante as he was already familiar with their discography and had great talent. He played for Kiedis and Flea (bassist) and left them “absolutely speechless” being impressed by his prior knowledge of the band and technique used to play. In his first run as a Chili Pepper, he worked on Mother’s Milk (1989), one of their most acclaimed and recognized albums, and Blood Sugar S*x Magik (1991), which was the breakthrough album that made them famous, charting top 3 on Billboard and selling 13 million copies.
Unlike most artists, Frusciante was never attracted to fame, he wanted to jam for the love of jamming and played for the love of playing. He was so against fame that he left the band right after the album’s success, because he was feeling too overwhelmed over the sudden fame they were getting. Even going as far as having auditory hallucinations telling him to leave. Doing so right after a Japan concert in 1993, booking a flight to California just the next morning.
He took a hiatus and worked on his solo career, releasing multiple records that are considered “cult classics” by critics and fans. He was very experimental during this time, exploring multiple genres and instruments. “It was like, ‘I just really don’t want to do all this living in this world of fame and publicity; I just want to concentrate on making electronic music and making music just to make music, and not to make people happy, not to be successful.” Said Frusciante in an interview with Total Guitar.
John Frusciante was like any other successful rockstar, he was deep in a drug addiction that left him with a big depression, but he lacked what most rockstars do, which is being able to stop. He left the band 3 separate times, all for the same reason, to focus on himself and do what makes him happy. He is living evidence that breaks are needed in order to reflect and regain passion. Things keep moving no matter what, The Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t stop making music after Frusciante left, but that doesn’t mean we should get in the way when it’s not our time.
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