John Frusciante, two solo albums out: the story of the RHCP guitarist. PHOTO

John Frusciante releases two new albums on February 3, 2023. They are called THE And II, are released on the same day and contain diverse material and tracks. They are the twelfth and thirteenth studio album by the American guitarist, known for being a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a group he left for a few years (between 1992 and 1998 and again between 2009 and 2019). Here are the various stages of his artistic career

John Frusciante announces the arrival of two solo albums

John Anthony Frusciante Jr. is born in New York on March 5, 1970. Since he was a child he had a passion for the guitar and in the 80s his teacher made him listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, an emerging band in the Californian scene. In particular he is struck by Hillel Slovakiak, the guitarist and co-founder of the band. When he died in 1988 from a heroin overdose, Frusciante came into contact with the bassist Fleawho is impressed by his technical skills

The Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert in Milan, Italy on July 2, 2023

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Frusciante auditions which convinces Flea and Anthony Kiedis e becomes the new guitarist of the band (which is completed shortly after with Chad Smith on drums). The group records and publishes the album in 1989 Mother’s Milk which makes the band known globally. Frusciante, 18 years old at the timemakes a great contribution and his talent emerges even more in the following very successful tour: he is outgoing in his behavior, extravagant in his playing, charismatic on stage

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In 1991 the album arrives Blood Sugar Sex Magic, triumph of the RHCP. Frusciante is increasingly central to the dynamics of group now famous in the world. At the peak of popularity, the guitarist in May 1992, during the tour to promote the disc, quit the band in Japan due to drug problems and inability to handle fame, as well as frequent falling out with frontman Kiedis

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This separation is used by the Italian writer Henry Brizzi as inspiration for the title of his 1994 novel Jack Frusciante left the group (name is changed to “Jack” to avoid legal trouble). The book was also taken from a movie a few years later, but the peculiarity is that in the plot of the volume the guitarist’s name is only briefly mentioned and is never even mentioned in the film

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Meanwhile Frusciante is replaced in the band by Dave Navarro and withdraws into himself. Suffers from depression, expanded by the grief over the death of his friend River Phoenix. She isolates herself at home and increases the drug use. Legend has it that in this phase he survived 8 episodes of overdose. In 1997, however, he decides to detox and the year after falls under the Red Hot Chili Peppers just in time to record the album Californicationa resounding return to success for him and the RHCPs

Californication, the comeback album of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

The guitarist transforms his style by drying it out and becoming more minimalist. In the following years with the band he released other successful records such as By the Way And Stadium Arcadium. December 16th 2009 with a press release announces its new release from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to “devote himself solely to his own projects and making solo albums”, opting for a career dedicated more to experimentation than the charts

In fact, parallel to the work with the RHCPs, Frusciante had embarked on a solo career (the first album dates back to 1994, after the first exit from the group). At the time of the second farewell, he had already reached a dozen solo albums. These are jobs they’ve had low sales success and fairly lukewarm reviews. The album with the best feedback was right The Empyreanreleased in 2009

Other studio works of the following years are the record made together with Omar Rodriguez Lopez in 2010, and then the albums PBX Funicular Carving Zone, Enclosures And Maya. This is the last solo record made by Frusciante so far, in 2020

In fact in the meantime, on December 15th 2019 his was made official return to the Red Hot Chili Peppers with a post on Instagram published by the band’s official profile, and relaunched shortly after also by the other members of the group

The announcement of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: guitarist John Frusciante is back in the group

With their historical full trainingthe Red Hot Chili Peppers released two albums in just a few months: Unlimited Love And Return of the Dream Canteenrecorded in the same sessions led by the iconic producer Rick Rubin

The Red Hot Chili Peppers top the charts with two different albums in 2022

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Frusciante is recognized as one of the greats of the guitar of the last decades: for example the BBC in 2010 named him the best guitarist of the last 30 years, while Rolling Stone puts him 72nd on the list of all-time greats at playing this instrument. In 2012 it was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of RHCP

Red Hot Chili Peppers, 6 curiosities about guitarist John Frusciante