Great Guitarist - John Frusciante

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John Frusciante was born on March 5, 1970 in New York, America.
His father and mother both were no strangers to music as his father was a trained pianist while his mother had surrendered her career as a vocalist to become a full time house wife.
But like many pop stars and celebrities his childhood also suffered from disharmony in parental relationships as his parents separated soon.
But John was lucky to find a supportive step father who encouraged him to pursue a career in music.
At the age of nine he was possessed with the work of the iconic punk rock band 'The Germs', wearing out several copies of their record.
By age ten, he had taught himself to play many songs of The Germs in a tuning that permitted him to play each and every chord with a single-finger barre.
After short while, Frusciante started taking guitar lessons from an instructor who acquainted him with the works of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
With the consent of his parents, John left the high school at sixteen and left for Los Angeles to master the skills in guitar playing in pursuit of a bright future in music.
John joined the Guitar Institute of Technology, but soon returned to old ways and attended classes irregularly.
His major inspirations were Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix who captured John's mind at the age of eleven.
John also observed the works of the pop icon Frank Zappa with great diligence and fervor and discovered the horizons of his own talent.
After getting to know Red Hot Chilli Peppers, John started to idealize guitarist Hillel Slovak and with constant practice he could play nearly all parts of guitar and bass used in the first three records of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
In 1988, John hit friendship with D.
H.
Peligro with whom he started playing and there he also came in contact with the bassist of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers Michael Peter Balzary 'Flea' and also grabbed the chance to play music with him.
After the death of Slovak in 1988, Red Hot Chilli Peppers was on the brink of collapse and to avert such a destiny, Flea suggested interviewing Frusciante to join them.
Flea who was earlier impressed by John's talent was astounded by his knowledge of the band's repertory.
Flea and the vocalist Anthony Kiedis altogether impressed by John agreed to enter him in the band.
From 1988 to 1992 John Frusciante produced magical albums like Mother's Milk (1989), and Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) which was an instant hit, reaching the third rank in the Billboard charts.
These albums brought Red Hot Chili Peppers to heights of fame and popularity which John started to dislike with the passage of time and began to isolate himself from the band.
Along the way John's addiction to drugs was getting worse causing harm both to his health and his professional career.
In 1992, Frusciante declined to perform on stage at Tokyo's Club Quattro showing the intention of leaving the band.
Although his mates succeeded in forcing him to perform that time, eventually he left the band.
In 1994 John produced his first solo music album 'Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt', but this period was clouded with his excessive drug use which even impacted on the recording quality.
In order to release himself from a state of depression John started using Heroin and Marijuana and resorted in focusing on writing and painting.
In 1997, John released his second solo music album intended to raise drug money but withdrew it in 1999, promising to re-release for his fans.
In 1997, after more than 5 years of drug addiction, John decided to leave drugs aside and lead a healthy life.
His friend Bob Forrest also came to his help and upon his request John agreed to join a drug-rehabilitation center.
After months of hard work and medication Frusciante regained his health and soon rejoined Red Hot Chili Peppers who were once again on the verge of break up.
With John back, the band released their album Californication in 1999 which is regarded by him as his favorite work of music.
The band released their third album with John, By The Way in 2002, while he continued to release and produce his solo music.
In 2004 Frusciante released his fourth solo album also featuring Klinghoffer and his band mates.
In 2005, he started work on his fifth solo album and started to use a full 24 track mixer exhibiting all the weapons in his armory.
He also expanded the use of guitar effects throughout the album, and used various other instruments such as the synthesizer and mellotron.
While in 2008 Anthony Kiedis announced that Red Hot Chilli Peppers will be taking a break for a year, John continues to work with other artists on their albums and on his solo music as well.
John Frusciate has attributed his come back as a rebirth and continues to produce different shades of guitar music.
This musician, largely influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen, credits this shift in his career to changes in his approach to rhythmic patterns and states that as long as he continues to change his style of music he would never hang his boots, or in this case, hang his guitar.
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