I’m fairly certain everyone knows a song by RHCP?! I haven’t been a diehard, dedicated fan myself but when I was in a band (vocals), we did cover By the Way; my favorite song is probably Otherside and the first song I ever learned to play on the drums was Snow. I do love an authobio, especially by someone who isn’t a pop/mainstream character, so when someone I know offered me their copy for a read, I gladly accepted.

Not going to lie, I struggled with the first 100 pages of the book. There’s always this thing with autobios and how they ‘feel’. The writing usually tends to be quite authentic and I always feel like I am meeting a new person when I read an autobio because they all come with their unique voice and way of presentation of thoughts and memories. But once I got going, there was no stopping. On the first page of the book, I shook hands with Anthony and said Hi. He then shared a lot of detail about his childhood and it’s important because that’s really the foundation, isn’t it?!

I didn’t know what to make of it all at first. Anthony seemed to me like he didn’t really care about anything at all, other than getting high&wasted, laid&loved. As long as there was fun to be had with various substances, he was game. I do wonder what would have come of him if music hadn’t become such a big part of his life, because in some ways it grounded him. So, yeah, while I was shocked at the lifestyle he was allowed and encouraged by his father to pursue as a child, I found myself thinking I may end up not liking the dude at all by the end of this book. And I think herein lies the beauty of this particular autobio- I was presented with cold, harsh truths by someone who couldn’t sit still in a bottle, someone who actively sought the destruction and adrenaline/cocaine/heroin high and yet I ended up coming out from the other end by trying to understand and even have a certain amount of respect for the guy.

Ultimately, this book is about addiction and the affect it had on everything. On health, on friendships, intimate relationships, the band, family… The symbiosis and parasitism that goes hand in hand when substance addiction is in the mix in between any kind of relationship. And it’s freaking sad and heartbreaking. Not to mention deadly. The moment I read about Hillel’s death I felt a sense of loss, too. All the memories Anthony shared of his friendship with Hillel had resonated. Which leads me to my next point…

Addiction does not define a person. And I learned this thanks to this book. Because Anthony does have one of the most beautiful souls. His friends and bandmates, all of the people he knew (and the list of people he knew and hung out with is impressive to say the least!) and interacted with, his girlfriends, his close and extended family members- he had nothing, and I mean nothing, but good things to speak about each of them. There was a lot of hurt and heartache to go around, for sure. But his bandmates were his brothers. All of his girlfriends were angels to him and he adored and worshipped each and every one of them. I was, frankly, in awe over how much of Anthony’s viewpoint of life revolved around acceptance, love and freedom.

What this book also made me feel was, that no matter how broken a person, and if you love them, you just can’t give up on them at the first sign of crisis. You can’t ignore or turn your back. Because, we’re all a bit fucked up, one way or another. It also just drove the point home even further that, no, you can’t make a person to change their ways and just sign into a rehab, but you can guide. They themselves will have to want to get better, to get healthier, to live life to the full again, and all that others can do to help is just show the other side of addiction to make them want that, too. But of course, it’s not all that black and white… I’m not an expert on addiction, but this is what Anthony’s journey highlighted to me as one of the aspects.

I love music and I have a set of bands that I listen to religiously. But I have never been the kind of person to pay much attention towards the band members’ personal lives (unless I read an autobio, of course. That’s when my world opens up! ha!). I don’t go digging around a band’s detailed history of member statuses, etc. I never really cared, I just wanted the music. I remember maggots (Slipknot fanbase) trying to figure out who the new guy was under the mask after Paul died. Absolutely, no disrespect, but I could not care less… does it matter who’s under the mask? They’re in the band, they play and they give me music- that’s all that matters. I don’t need to know their full name, marital status and personal security number and whatever other gossip the tabloids manage to dig up. As such, going back to RHCP, it was really, truly interesting how the band itself transformed throughout the years. How they worked together, the dynamics, the challenges and all the highs&lows.

When I compare this book and the main man behind it with all the others I have read from the same industry (Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Corey Taylor), I can say that Anthony stands out in his own way. Yes, they have all had their unreal-how-crazy-lives and childhoods, they can share stories that are the stuff of legends and most of the times they manage to surprise you with their intelligence and a completely different layer to the human being that they are behind the showbiz. But Anthony is the one who managed to bare his soul with the book. What makes him who he is, his essence has been well and truly captured and delivered.

Not sure what I was expecting going into this memoir, but I wasn't quite prepared for the path the narrative took, which is actually surprisingly since I knew a little about Anthony Kiedis' drug struggles going into it.

I've been wanting to read this book since it came out, I loved the Chili Peppers during the late 90's early 2000's and remember going to one of their concerts as a teenager, which was my first ever concert without my parents present.

Anthony's story up until point of publishing (2004) was very much about sex, drugs and rock n roll - even as a pre-teen. I'm surprised that during this narrative he never once mentioned, or even seemed to realise, that all of his struggles had steamed from the abuse from his father. He was taken to party's and introduced to all of the above as an 11 year old. But throughout the progression of the narrative he still loved and occasionally doted on his father, he never once mentioned the obvious. I wonder whether he has now come to terms with it.

Something that did stick with me is that throughout all the struggles, addiction and loses they still managed to stay mainly together as a band (except for the lead guitarist who has changed several times) and support each other with a greater acceptance of who they all are as individuals. Chad, Flea and Anthony have been there for each other due to the love of music, no matter their particular personal beliefs, and I truly felt the respect for each other coming off these pages.

Time to go and see what I can find about the last 20 years to catch up on the story whilst listening to their Greatest Hits.

LOVED LOVED LOVED!!!!

Great book about a great man/band

This got repetitive in the end, endless cycles of drugs girls, rehab, but i still enjoyed the stories of his life and how the red hot chilli peppers came to be

Scar tissue is the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I read the first 100 pages over the summer and had to put it down. I was so shocked about him having his first sexual experience with his dad’s gf at 12 and then doing heroin for the first time at 14, it was all bit much for me and very unrelatable!! I decided to pick it up again last week and it became a very addictive read. His constant cycle of addiction-getting clean-relapse was heartbreaking yet I felt myself rooting for him to treat himself better. At the same time he describes the developments of the band which is also quite interesting. The reviews seemed very mixed where a lot of people hated it and saw Anthony Kiedis as a monster in his recklessness towards drugs and sex and the band. However, I think this book gives incredible insight into the mind of an addict. All his monstrous behaviour is the drugs, not him!! As a reader I became addicted to the book because I needed to see him get sober (and see the band get successful). Other comments said he was a narcissist but this is HIS story, not the story written in 3rd person so I wouldn’t consider his behaviour to be a reason for a negative rating when to me his entire being is so far removed from me and everything that I know, that it was so disturbing to read but in a new and interesting way. Overall, it was a very juicy, Hollywood read and I became completely immersed and maybe a little obsessed. Anthony from the 1990s was one very beautiful and fine-looking man!!

Even though I can only relate to a fraction of what is in this book, seeing how my own life is so radically different from that of the author, I loved every minute of reading this book. This book has everything you could possibly ask for; it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me sad and it made me profoundly happy. If this book does not melt your heart, then you have a heart of stone. Someone shares his life with you in a very candid and open way, how can you not love that?

And of course, what I love even more as a Chili Peppers fan is obviously getting to know Anthony Kiedis better. I got to share the ups and the downs of a ride that's lasted for more than two decades. And we're not talking just about the music, but his life. Still, the funny thing is that what I liked the most is that the book made me listen to the music with new ears, so to speak. And the best thing of all is that some of the Chili Peppers songs that I love the most are among those that Kiedis gives you more inside information on. And now my appreciation of those songs has increased tenfold.

Rating a book a 5 has never been this easy. Too bad it only goes up to five.

Re-read this to see if it holds up from when I read it at 16/17 and loved it.

This time round I find the drug addiction super confronting and crazy… he should without a doubt be dead and I was pretty disturbed. But either way he beat what sounds like as bad as addiction gets. Also think there was tmi on sex encounters.

Absolutely loved the parts about making / performing / touring music and the comings and goings of various band members (RHCP always been my fave). And his various loves.

Back then would have loved to trade lives. Now confidently wouldn’t be A.K. If I had the chance. Forever love them though.

favorite.

This is just the best autobiography and account on the reasoning of self-abuse ever written and certainly one of the best lead singer autobiographies out there. Obsessive fans of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, like me (a fan since 1986), thought they knew everything they could about this deeply private band, but we were wrong. It was so refreshing and heart warming to have the normally candid and private singer open his soul over his terrible drug addictions and lost loves. If you are a fan, you will love the anecdotes about the songs, life on the road and personal friendships with the rest of the band. Anthony proves what a great and spiritual writer we love him for and this book will ensure his place in time as the great writer that he is and can be. This captivating book follows the singer through his addiction and the relationships that have been destroyed along the way, his friendship with his father and Michael Balzary (Flea) and down to his very lowest ebb and chronicles the more recent events that have turned the band into the biggest live act in the world.

Anthony Kiedis was the 2nd "bad boy" I was ever in lust with - first it was Bon Jovi when I was in the first grade, and then Anthony Kiedis in the fourth grade. Still love them both! lol

This book was amazing, maybe not a literary feat, but the story itself was gripping. How many people can say they were introduced to drugs by their father and slept in the same bed with Cher as a young child and were babysat by Sonny Bono and dated Ione Skye and watched one of their best friends slip into a drugged and depressed abyss until he died (while you managed to get clean)?! Well, Kiedis can say it and he does in this book that takes an honest and hard look at the world of sex, drugs, and rock & roll and the prices you pay for that life. For so many musicians, and I think Kiedis is no exception, I think their books are a purging of their past and a chance to get through all their 12 steps and into a fresh life with a new direction.

Loved the book enough to hold onto it, despite several trips to the library used book sales and McKay's Used Books.

This is the book I secretly wanted to read when I lived in London but was too embarrassed to break out on the tube. I still have a couple of chapters to plough through. If you are considering reading this book: don't. I am not the world's biggest Chilis fan (Blood Sugar Sex Magik was hot on my list when I was 14 and have lost interest since then really) but was drawn to the book thinking there would be some good tales of rock n roll excess. Basically, all it's about is all the women he's had (there are only so many times one can be bothered to hear what animal sex he had with whom) and how many times he had to fight his drug addiction. Zzzzzzzzzz. It's fucking boring. Give it a miss. You'd be better off reading Liza Minelli's autobiog.

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge Chili Peppers fan, my kid is. My son has read this book several times and he encouraged me to read it. After all, momma loves her some Rock God grit. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, Anthony Keidis is far from Rock God status. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad front man, he can carry a tune and some women would consider him eye candy. However, he would never look at a woman twice because according to him, he prefers 16 year old jail bate. “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.” No, Anthony wasn't cool enough to pen that quote himself, but he was pathetic enough to live it over and over and over again.

But perhaps it is unfair to judge him. I mean, he apparently suffers a severe case of LSS (that would be Lead Singer Syndrome for those of you unfamiliar with the term). Even if you are a huge fan, can we just agree that the man is unbelievably full of himself? I'm not sure how you could read this book and disagree.

What did I learn about Anthony. He had a seriously messed up childhood. Yeah, so did a lot of people. Daddy was a hip drug dealer, so what? Daddy got you high, daddy got you laid, daddy got you into the club. As weird as it may seem, that doesn't make him cool or special, hell it doesn't even make him unique. It does make him abused, but I was hard pressed to feel any sympathy for him. Maybe because he was too proud of his cool childhood. Or maybe it was because Anthony Keidis just comes across as a dick and I don't care what he went through.

The book had a hell of a lot of drugs in it. Again don't get me wrong, I would never not read something because of drug abuse. Actually, most of what I read has drug use/abuse in it. Its just a genre I enjoy reading, it seems real to me if the plot has this in it. That probably says more about me than anything else though. I've read other Rock Star bios and I've watched real world people travel the highs and lows of addiction. But I have NEVER read/heard so much bragging about one's drug use/abuse before in my entire life! In fact, some of his stories are so damned grandiose that I honestly do not believe what he is writing is what actually happened. Perhaps some of it happened to other people and Mr. Keidis thought it would be cool to incorporate it into his life story. Maybe he was so high he didn't know it wasn't him who did those things. Or maybe he has an over active imagination and invented a few scenes in the book. And honestly, he should have cut them out because this damn book goes on and on and never ends.

I wasn't a Chili Peppers fan before I read this book. I never thought Anthony was anything special. But after reading this book, I can't stand Anthony Kiedis. The man seriously acts as if the planet revolves around him. It's not like he is Flea or Frusciante for fux sake ;-)

If you like Anthony and you want to hear tall tales of his drug abuse, and you want to hear exaggerated stories of his sex life (which even his bragging couldn't make sound exciting), and you think the front man is the end all be all of a Rock band, then by all means read this book. If that doesn't interest you, I hear Keith Richards has one coming out and...well I'm sure he can tell much better stories about sex, drugs, and rock n roll.