John was born on March 5, 1970 in New York. He is the son of Gail Frusciante,
who appears on Under the Bridge singing background vocals in the outro part.
As a youngster, he came very close to being in Frank Zappa's band. He stood in
line for the audtion for hours, but ultimately "chickened out" as he put it. Zappa has always been a big influence on John,
along with Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and David Bowie. When he was 16, he left home to find a job and an apartment. For those
wondering if he ever took guitar lessons, he went to guitar school at some point, though he didn't ever go to class - he says
he pretty much did coke the whole time.
John first saw the Chili Peppers when he was 15 at the Variety Arts Center in
Cali, and said that after that "their music meant everything to me." He and Hillel would talk, and once Hillel asked him if
he would want the Chili Peppers to become so big that they could play the LA Forum, and John said no, that would ruin the
whole vibe of the band. After Hillel died, John was the obvious choice to take over being the Peppers' biggest fan, and he
was nabbed out of a Thelonious Monster audition five mintues before Bob Forrest was going to ask him to join.
John grew disenchanted with the group and confused about their popularity after
the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and refused to go on stage during a show at one of Japan's biggest venues. He and Anthony
hadn't talked in like a year, and John decided he wanted to leave. The band persuaded him to play that night, but he took
a plane home the next day and began his solo career as a junkie. When asked what to tell the fans, John said, "Tell them I
went crazy."
John recorded his first album Niandra La Des and Usually
Just a T-Shirt on his eight track before, during and after his Chili Pepper days. He says he recorded the album during his
time with the band because he wanted to pursue his own musical avenues in addition to the Peppers. Niandra was released in
1994, right when John was smack in the middle of his heroin addiction (no pun intended). For a long while this album has been
largely unavailable due to the fact that Rick Rubin sold American Records to Sony. But now Sony has re-released Niandra, and
you can probly find it at your local Tower Records.
Also in '97, John's friends finally persuaded him to enter rehab. He says that
the junkie part of his life had run its course, and that it was time for a new chapter. Flea then asked him if he'd like to
rejoin the band, and he of course consented. John's first gig with the reformed Peppers was a KBLT radio interview, where
he, Flea and Anthony play a bunch of acoustic songs. The band no longer plays tunes from One Hot Minute, because it didn't
involve John, nor from Mother's Milk, mostly cuz John doesn't like his playing on that album. Many people wonder whether John
will remain with the band this time around, and he himself says he can't predict the future. But he has come to grips with
stardom, seeing how some of his idols like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix were role models in the way that they made so many
people happy.John was pretty much destined to be a rock star: He doesn't know how to drive a car, he doesn't own a credit
card, and he's never paid a bill in his life. His latest ambition is to be the guitarist for Nine Inch Nails, although Anthony
says that makes him very sad, so hopefully he's not serious. For now, John wakes up really early every day, does Yoga for
a couple hours, practices guitar and reads murder mysteries.
