Anthony Kiedis

Early life

Anthony John Kiedis (born November 1, 1962) is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He and bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary founded the California-based funk rock group in 1983 which has become immensely popular with its records regularly topping world charts. Kiedis writes most of the lyrics for the group's songs.

Kiedis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to John Kiedis (also known as Spider or Blackie Dammett) and Margaret "Peggy" Idema, and has two half-sisters, Julie and Jenny, and a half-brother, James. His great grandfather, Anton Kiedis, was Lithuanian, and his father's mother has some Mohican Blood. His parents divorced in 1968, when he was five. He lived with his mother in Grand Rapids until he was eleven, then moved to California with his father, who was an actor in Los Angeles.

Around the age of fifteen, while a student at Fairfax High School, he met Michael Balzary and Hillel Slovak, with whom he would eventually go on to form a band. Initially, the group was named Tony Flow & The Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, and they would go on to become part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

His father introduced him to drugs at the age of eleven, and Kiedis has had many struggles with drug addiction, including heroin and cocaine. He initially forced himself to get clean after the heroin overdose death of former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988 for five years, but relapsed several times. December 24th, 2000 he became clean again, and reportedly he has avoided another relapse.

In 2004 Kiedis published a memoir named Scar Tissue, which peaked at number 17 on the New York Times Bestseller List. It is a detailed insight to Kiedis' life from a rebellious child to a rockstar

Kiedis appeared as an actor in the 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze vehicle Point Break playing Tone, the surfer, and also featured in The Chase in 1994 playing Will (alongside bandmate Flea). The Chase (1994), a 1994 movie featuring Charlie Sheen as an estranged man trying to escape the cops with a young woman he kidnapped, had Flea and Kiedis play two metalheads in a big 4x4 who try to stop Sheen's red sportscar and end up crashing like imbeciles. His earlier acting work saw him adopting the stage name "Cole Dammett" (after his father's nickname) and starring as Sylvester Stallone's son in the film F.I.S.T

Kiedis is 5ft 9" (175 cm) in height

He has 10 tattoos.

In the early 90s Red Hot Chili Peppers toured with grunge greats Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains.

At a very young age Kiedis knew he wanted to be a singer, though didn't pursue that dream for many years before forming the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He dated many famous women: Queen of Pop Madonna, actresses Ione Skye and Demi Moore, director Sofia Coppola, model Jaime Rishar and Heidi Klum, singer Sinead O'Connor and Melanie C and fashion designer Yohanna Logan.

He is currently dating Heather "Nika" Christie.

He met the Dalai Lama during a trip in India at the end of 1996.

While actually only part Native American, Kiedis has exhibited strong interest in that heritage, showcasing it in the tribal tattoo with the top of a totem pole covering his upper back, and he has used it as lyrical inspiration in songs such as True Men Don't Kill Coyotes, Fight Like a Brave, American Ghost Dance, Apache Rose Peacock, and Johnny, Kick a Hole in the Sky.

Since the death of his dog Buster, Kiedis has acquired a pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, named Katie and Sammi, according to an interview in the May 2006 issue of Q magazine.

Kiedis is a member of MENSA, his I.Q. is 150.

He studies Kabbalah.

His godfather was Sonny Bono.

He is a vegetarian.

According to his autobiography, he used to adopt the role of a "protector" in school, defending all the kids who were outcasted or bullied. When future bandmate Flea was playfully putting Kiedis's friend in a headlock, he told Flea to back off. Ever since he found out Flea was not serious, they were inseparable.

The members of Mr. Bungle and The Red Hot Chili Peppers are not on good terms. Before they dispanded, Mr. Bungle frequently performed covers of famous RHCP songs (with bad intent).

Having accused Faith No More's Mike Patton of apeing his style, Kiedis threatened to pull the Chilis from a number of festivals if Patton's Mr Bungle weren't booted from the lineup.

Kiedis spent much of his youth listening to Sly Stone, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Stevie Wonder, artists who would eventually shape the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound.

The death of Hillel Slovak shook Anthony up so much that he gave up drugs and he admitted that the one thing that helped him through this was "Flea coming up to me and crying with his beautiful little blue eyes and saying "I love you and i don't want you to die