Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis (/ˈkiːdɪs/ KEE-dis; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and rapper who is the lead singer of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers, which he has fronted since its conception in 1983. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his mother before moving, shortly before his twelfth birthday, to Hollywood to live with his father. While attending Fairfax High School, Kiedis developed close friendships with fellow students Flea and Hillel Slovak, who at the time were members of a band called Anthym. After high school, Kiedis began taking classes at UCLA, but dropped out during the beginning of his sophomore year.\n', ' He later received an offer to be the opening act for a local band, and enlisted Flea, Slovak, and drummer Jack Irons to assist. After a show under the name "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem", the band progressed and the line-up eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has recorded eleven studio albums with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis\' lyrical style has evolved throughout his career; early recordings discussed topics such as sex and life in Los Angeles, while more recent songs focus on more reflective themes including love, addiction, and loss. Additionally, his vocal style has shifted from rapping to a more melodic technique. He struggled with drug addiction for the majority of his life up until the year 2000, since when he has remained drug free.\n', ' Kiedis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Margaret "Peggy" (Noble) and actor John Michael Kiedis, known professionally as Blackie Dammett. His paternal grandfather\'s family emigrated from Lithuania in the early 1900s; the remainder of his ancestry includes English, French, Dutch, and Mohican. In 1966, when he was three years old, his parents divorced and he was then raised by his mother in Grand Rapids. His mother later remarried and had two more children, Anthony\'s half sisters. Each summer, he would visit his father in Hollywood for two weeks, a time during which the two would bond. He idolized his father and recalled, "Those trips to California were the happiest, most carefree, the-world-is-a-beautiful-oyster times I\'d ever experienced." In 1974, when Kiedis was twelve years old, he moved to Hollywood to live with his father full-time. His father was a struggling actor who sold drugs, which had a significant impact on Kiedis, as the two would often use marijuana and cocaine together. Kiedis accidentally tried heroin for the first time at age 14, mistaking the substance for cocaine. Through his father Blackie, Kiedis, who worked under the stage name of Cole Dammett, landed his first acting role appearing as Sylvester Stallone\'s character\'s son in the 1978 film, F.I.S.T. That same year he would land two more acting jobs, one being on an ABC Afterschool Special and the other an appearance in the film, Jokes My Folks Never Told Me.\n', '