Scar Tissue

In my opinion, this was a very good read. Most books about musicians can be a little confusing, because of the use of another author. In “Scar Tissue”, you can tell that Anthony really put his time into it. It has great stories and memories of his times meeting friends, with his dad, forming a band, and traveling the world, with the mission of entertaining people. In the post by J. P. Stockton, he says that “We’re lucky Kiedis turned out the way he did in the end”, and i agree. Most of the book is about his battle with drug usage, and near death experiences for him, and some of the most important people to him. Thats a big part of the lasting effect the book puts on you, and how we are lucky that Anthony won his battle and can make the music that gives so many people the enjoyment of listening to it. In the book, it goes from Anthonys movement to quiet, comfortable Michigan with his Mom, to big, loud, influential L.A. and his Dad. Thats a huge huge huge part of the book, and even though its just described with a few sentences, this almost transcontinental move proves to change Anthonys life forever. The question is-for better, or for worse? This new L.A. lifestyle introduces Anthony to drugs, partying, misbehavior, and other acts of recklessness. But from Anthonys point of view, I think he does an excellent job at showing both the negative and positive sides. Thats why the book is so great. It has a first person view of both sides of the story. There is also a great equilibrium between the two, as the flow of the story and the style of writing make it so it happens without you even knowing it. Not only are we lucky Anthony turned out the way he did because of the music he makes, but because of this great story about his life that gets shared with everybody. Anthonys life is actually amazing. For a person to have that many great moments and memories, then be able to obtain all the information and turn it into a great book is incredible. You have to love Anthony, and as you read, you can feel the emotions he's feeling, like you're in his shoes while reading it. If you're as big of a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan as I am, you will notice that the book provides a lot of clarity into some of the songs written and performed by the group. Its all the little insight from him that makes you feel like if you see him in public, you could just walk up to him and act like you’ve known him and grew up with him and experienced all of the times in Scar Tissue right beside him. Of Course he has no idea who you are, and he is a human being bombarded by paparazzi and fans every second, so maybe just a wave and smile would suffice. But he is such an interesting guy filled with stories to tell for hours and hours. This book does a great job on telling the life story of a crazy, remarkable human being. A great quote from this book is “Every artist is at war with the world” (Kiedis 71). This quote can definitely be proved true, especially for musicians. In the book, Anthony constantly is taking Flea, Chad, John, and some former members, including Dave, Jack, Hillel, Dwayne, Arik, Jack S., and Jesse along for the ride of a lifetime. They had to go up on stage every single time and play like they've never played before to give their fans the best time ever. But there were also all the people thinking otherwise. The struggle of being a musician during Anthonys time was one like no other, as many, many people say that The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the most influential bands of all time, as they introduced this new, punk, hip hop, rock, funk combination for the world to hear. They overcame the shunning words from music producers and record labels and any citizens against their music, and stayed strong for the whole ride. This book has a great impact on anybody who reads it, and i highly recommend it to anybody considering.

"Scar Tissue" is an unfiltered glimpse into the life of Anthony Kiedis, the charismatic lead singer and lyricist of the iconic band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this New York Times bestseller, Kiedis bares his soul, taking readers on a roller-coaster ride through the tumultuous world of rock 'n' roll. The book opens with the birth of the band in the gritty, neon-lit landscape of Los Angeles in 1983. Four self-proclaimed "knuckleheads" burst onto the scene with a unique blend of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk, setting the stage for a musical journey like no other. Fast forward over two decades, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have defied all odds to become one of the world's most successful and enduring bands. But "Scar Tissue" is not your typical rock star memoir. It's a searingly honest and unapologetic account of Kiedis' life—one marked by both incredible highs and crushing lows. Kiedis doesn't hold back as he shares his love affair with everything, including the darkness, death, and disease that have touched his life. Even his harrowing descent into drug addiction becomes a poignant element of his artistic journey. What sets this memoir apart is Kiedis' ability to intertwine personal experiences with the evolution of the band. He pays tribute to the powerful and inspiring women who've influenced his life while recounting the electrifying energy of Woodstock and the humbling presence of the Dalai Lama. It's a story of dedication and debauchery, intrigue and integrity, recklessness and redemption. "Scar Tissue" is more than a rock 'n' roll memoir; it's a testament to the indomitable spirit of an artist who has faced the darkest corners of fame and addiction and emerged with his creativity and integrity intact. Kiedis' writing is raw, visceral, and, at times, heart-wrenching. It's a book that resonates with anyone who has wrestled with their demons, chased their dreams, and found their way back from the brink. Whether you're a die-hard fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or simply someone intrigued by the inner workings of the music industry, "Scar Tissue" offers a gripping, no-holds-barred account of a life lived to the fullest—a life that could only have been lived in the world of rock 'n' roll. Dive in, and prepare to be moved, inspired, and forever changed by Anthony Kiedis' remarkable journey.

The lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Pepper, Anthony Kiedis, gets high for the first time at age eleven, with his father, who was an actor in the swinging ‘60’s and ‘70’s in Hollywood. Young Anthony had a relatively normal life with his mother and a more hedonistic lifestyle when staying with his father. What led to a lifelong struggle with hard drug addiction is unknown but May in part be from early exposure to drugs. I was not aware of the band’s struggles with addiction. Somehow, through it all, they managed to write songs, record albums, go on tour, and have relationships. The level of addiction is at times harrowing. And Kiedis gives an honest portrayal of the depths his addiction went to and how it affected his life. He reveals the close and complex relationship of band members, the early loss of a special band mate, Hillel, to a drug overdose, and he mentions relationships with other bands coming up at the same time, in particular, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. But perhaps the most interesting facts come back to his childhood where he was playmates, older brother figure, to Chastity Bono, by way of a close friendship with Sonny and Cher. Kiedis has some early acting credits as well. In fact, he was a Hollywood kid, and he met actors and musicians while growing up in Los Angeles. His exposure to many creative people in the hills above Hollywood shaped his point of view and mostly through his father accelerated his passage through the world of music, drugs, and sex. Another reveal for me anyway, is that he and bass player, Flea (Michael Balzary) and guitar player, Hillel, went to high school together and had been close friends before forming the band. Overall, it was a good read and a good effort from Kiedis. Ultimately, there is no climactic ending to the book (it is an autobiography or memoir from a living author) but Kiedis ends with where he was at the time he wrote the book, more or less learning to live with his obsession of using drugs and practicing steps to not use those drugs. It’s a battle. I wish him continued strength and success.

One of my favorite books. I have gifted this to many!

No matter how awesome you think you are, you have come nowhere near the sheer volume of drugs which Anthony Kiedis has consumed, nor have you had as much incredible sex with as many spectacular women. That, roughly speaking, is the theme of Kiedis’ autobiography and, if even half of what he says is true, it’s hard to imagine that anyone will ever be able to trump him in either endeavour. For those who do not know, Anthony Kiedis is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a merry band of funksters who have over the course of a career spanning two decades broken down a startling number of musical barriers in the mainstream and produced some fantastic music along the way. The most damning indictment of the book is that there is literally no narrative structure here; Kiedis does not impose any sort of dramatic development on his story, so unless one is familiar with the outlines of Chili Pepper history, this is just one really, really, really long picaresque. And I use that word in its strongest pejorative sense: this is 465 pages of “this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; then this happened; oh, and then this happened; did I mention that this happened? No? Anyways, then this happened; then this happened…” and on and on seemingly ad infinitum. Which is too bad: the Chili Peppers’ story could make for fascinating reading. They let their freak flag fly and eventually the music-buying public wandered over, trying to figure out what these guys were up to. They never really compromised their music, with even their poppiest tunes (except for the execrable One Hot Minute) slanted just slightly off-kilter to what the rest of the mainstream was doing. And the personalities in the band are, to put it mildly, eccentric: Kiedis is the beautiful, rapping, flowing, sex god, drug addict, front man; bassist Flea is the manic musician, the kind of guy who would probably be terribly unsettling to sit beside on the subway, but who, by all accounts, has a heart of gold; current (and former… it’s a long story) guitarist John Frusciante is a drug-damaged artiste; and Chad Smith, the drummer (of course) is the odd one out, the guy who doesn’t seem to fit in so well. Very little of this comes through in Scar Tissue; for example, Smith, who has been drumming for the band for more than fifteen years is barely mentioned, and almost no interactions between Kiedis and Smith are recounted, other than a drunken near-brawl in a hotel.

I have found Anthony Kiedis interesting since the first time I heard RHCP in the middle 80's. I heard 'Fight Like A Brave', ran out and bought the 12" vinyl mix. I've followed RHCP music for years and the thing I love the best is that they really have their own genre. There is no way you can put them in one category, and to me...that is genious. I digress. I have to say sometimes I avoid actively knowing very much about famous people, because sometimes you can get pretty disappointed. (Example, a certain female singer is such a nasty person in real life that I refuse to buy one of the fragrances in her perfume line, even though I love it.) I was not disappointed with this biography, as Mr. Kiedis won me over early on in the book when he spoke about protecting the 'special needs' kids from bullies. He might have been a wild child, but he has a lot of heart. I found his upbringing interesting as I had no idea he ran around in a showbiz crowd as a child, had his own acting career and hang out with the likes of Cher. Wow. I can't make much comment about his dad, he seemed pretty into himself in my opinion, but Kiedis' relationship with his mom was a heartwarming one that has a lot to do, in my opinion, with the loving relationship he has with his son. He discloses in detail his addictions with great honesty. All in all, he is a very creative, interesting person and his book is one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. And I really adore his devotion to his child, every photo I have seen with them together they are holding hands, linking arms, and the love there is a deep one. Too bad his memoir was written before fatherhood, I'd love to know his feelings about fatherhood as he embraces it wholeheartedly.

I listened to RHCP a lot when I was in high school - around the time that Uplift Mofo Party Plan and Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out. I wasn't a huge fan, but I enjoyed some of the music. Fast forward to the mid-2000s, and here's my Anthony Kiedis story. I was working in live entertainment and worked a show with Snoop Dogg and the Chili Peppers. I was down in front of the front row. As the Chili Peppers took the stage, Anthony Kiedis' in-ear monitor wasn't working (at least, that's what I think the problem was) and he went over to the onstage soundboard, picked up the purse of one of the girls who was working the board and trying to fix his issue, and hurled the purse full-force across the stage. All of her makeup scattered across the far side of the stage, into the wings, and I remember thinking - poor girl, that was some expensive makeup (T. LeClerc powder, etc.) that's probably ruined now. I also thought, in regards to Kiedis, "huh." I had seen all sorts of bad celebrity behavior at that point, but he seemed a little old and seasoned to be acting like that. RHCP played the show, during which the band members barely said a word to each other, or the audience - Flea tried to joke around a little but Anthony was having none of it - and then at the end of the show, Anthony stalked off the stage. I was glad I hadn't paid to see the concert, as I would have been disappointed. I like celebrity autobiographies and particularly enjoy rock star autobiographies. I liked The Dirt by Motley Crue, and Duff McKagan's book. Kiedis' book, however, is kind of a different animal than those others. There's a fair amount of rambling that's to be expected in any celebrity autobiography, but this book rambles A LOT. Kiedis comes across as a surfer-hippie with a lot of issues. He has some excellent insights and turns of phrase he employs in telling his story, but overall, I just kept feeling like "wow, this guy is a mess" all the way through the book. Some other reactions to the book: - Anthony has been in rehab, 12-step groups, and therapy and so I am sure at some point, someone has talked to him about the fact that his chaotic early childhood, and his dad treating him like a drug-using, sex-having adult running buddy at age 12, probably contributed to his drug addiction and his inability to commit to much of anything. However, Kiedis, in the book, talks about his life with his parents as if it was nothing more than a rockin' good time and something any kid would have fun doing. If you believe Anthony, the early introduction to drugs and sex, lack of supervision, lack of safety, and need to take care of his parent as if he was the parent didn't affect him negatively at all. Nowadays Blackie, Kiedis' father, would have been jailed for raising Anthony the way he did - it is the worst, and most irresponsible, of irresponsible parenting. It affected Anthony negatively, regardless of how he talks about it in the book. One thing I respected about both Nikki Sixx's autobiography and his sections of The Dirt was that he owns up to his own problems and tries to connect those problems back to his early life, while still taking responsibility for how he hurt himself and others while working out his issues. I didn't get any of that in Scar Tissue. - I didn't realize until this book that guys were also capable of doing something that I thought was stereotypical "girl behavior," i.e., meeting someone and believing instantly that person is a soul mate, there's a connection there, they are meant to be together, etc. and then repeating that behavior with every person he/she meets. It was almost amusing, after a point - about every five pages of the book, Kiedis would describe meeting a new girl he felt this amazing connection to, and then in another five pages there would be a new girl and a new amazing connection. It did get a little tedious, and also a little creepy, once Kiedis reached his early 40s but the girls stayed approximately the same age, around nineteen. - Overall, while I did get a sense of where Anthony's musical motivations come from, and could respect that the Chili Peppers really did set out to make music that was different and unique, I didn't get much of a sense of who Anthony was outside the drugs and the relentless (and I mean RELENTLESS) girl-chasing. The California surfer-hippie thing definitely comes through, but not much of anything else. I am not sure whether Kiedis is a deep person who lives an unexamined life because his fame and his money allow him to do so, or if he is a shallow person who has occasional flashes of deep insight. Overall, the book is worth a read but I still like The Dirt and Dave Mustaine's autobiography better. Pretty much all these rock memoirs have copious stories of sex and drug use, but especially in Mustaine's book, you get a much better sense that there is a real person behind the trappings of fame, which I didn't get from Scar Tissue.

When you decide that life is worth living...you become a different person. As a fan of Anthony I am proud of him. He seems to bs loving...fun...and energetic. How do you stop yourself from thinking about drugs...sex...and alcohol? The one thing I am shocked about he continued this path for many years....dude...God has a bigger plan for you!

Anthony Kiedis doesn't hold back in this autobiography, and it must have taken some balls to write it. Tell it like it is. Some of the drug induced incidents are quite vivid, you couldn't make this stuff up, and far from glorifying the life of a junkie, he does just the opposite without trying. There are several painful moments including the deaths of people close to him, usually caused by drugs. Failed relationships, missed opportunities, and accidents that happened when high... it is amazing this guy is still alive. This isn't sensational stuff though, and although many famous names crop up, virtually none are slagged off or dissed. The women in his life get the same Tell it like it is treatment, and again there's nothing spiteful or disrespectfully in there, just honest self analysis. Certainly Mr Kiedis comes out of this as an imperfect human being, much like the rest of us. It probably helps to be a Chili Peppers fan, though this book is thoughly recommended to those of us intested in rock music during that period. And long may he continue making great music.

This is an incredible book Reading through it you can really get to know Anthony Kiedis life You can see his life through his eyes and you can be there with him in every situation and every challenge that he went through in his life I believe that it is really well written and that everything is being said as if Anthony himself who was telling the story to your ears This is a great book and I would like to recommend to everybody who is interested in rock music.

It's a really good entertaining read if you listen to the chillies. Good explanations of where the lyrics of the earlier songs came from. Anthony Kedis had a messed up childhood.

I’m a big fan of RHCP and it was a wild adventure being transported to Anthony’s world. I loved this book and didn’t want to put it down. It took me on a ride for sure. I also love how much personality it oozes. Great, straight-forward writing.

Fantastic book. Super engaging and written exceptionally well. Alot of drug references as to be expected, but also some deep discussions of life choices and how he endured to become who he is today.