Must Read Autobiographies - XIII

Scar Tissue
Anthony Kiedis, Larry Sloman

Scar Tissue is the autobiography of Red Hot Chilli peppers vocalist Anthony Kiedis. It was released in 2004 and authored by Kiedis with Larry Sloman, who compiled information and conducted interviews. 

The book follows Kiedis' life from his birth in 1962 to early 2004. It follows Kiedis into the depth of his experiences with drug addiction. The title name was taken from the single "Scar Tissue" released five years earlier on the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Californication.

According to the book, Kiedis' first drug experience was with his father Blackie Dammet, a former drug dealer, at age eleven. By the time his band formed and became more popular in the 1980s, he and former bandmate Hillel Slovak had severe drug addictions. On Slovak's death from overdose in 1988, Kiedis writes that he was so shaken that he skipped town, missing the funeral. Kiedis had no idea what to do without his friend. His death only made matters worse, and caused him to do more and more hardcore drugs. He attempted to get clean afterwards but relapsed in 1994 after being given medications while getting a tooth pulled. Later on, he reveals that he was not actually clean, as he claimed at the time.  He claims his new clean date is December 24, 2000. 

It is a sincere rendering of the life of a rock star by a rock star.

Namaste

Prabir