33 Things You Should Know About Red Hot Chili Peppers

           

1. Anthony Kiedis was a 12-year-old drug mule.
Kiedis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 1, 1962. His parents split when he was 3, and at age 12 he moved to L.A. to live with his dad, Blackie, a small-time actor … and big-time dope smuggler. One memorable father-son trip found them exchanging seven suitcases of pot for $30K in cash. "We were partners-in-crime," Kiedis says. "Without his influence, I'd be pushing pencils somewhere."

2. He also slept with Cher — in eighth grade.
Blackie's connections made him quite popular on the Hollywood club scene, and young Anthony met dozens of '70s-rock superstars: Keith Moon, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and … Cher? "We used to tool around in her little turquoise Ferrari Dino," Kiedis recalls. One night she was babysitting and the two fell asleep on her bed — but there was no funny business. "We were friends," he says with a smile.

3. A school yard fight brought the band together.
Fairfax High, fall 1977: Kiedis, 14, had just enrolled after being kicked out of another district, and had so far made only one friend — "the geekiest guy in the whole school." When future Chili Peppers bassist Flea — who, unbeknownst to Kiedis, was also pals with the nerd — jokingly put the kid in a headlock, Kiedis intervened. "I said, 'If you lay another hand on him, it could be the last thing you do today.' The rest was history."

4. Even as kids, the Peppers liked to "experiment."
"I thought I was a juvenile delinquent, in my nice suburban Midwestern neighborhood," says drummer Chad Smith. "But those guys would do a fucking gram, smoke two joints, drink a six pack of beer … and then go to school!"

5. They started as an art project.
"Flea, Hillel [Slovak, the band's first guitarist] and I were friends way before we formed a band," Kiedis says. "We'd go to clubs together, go up to San Francisco and do drugs together." But it wasn't until a pal asked them to perform one song as an "art-funk installation piece" that they started playing together. "It was so electrifying. We all thought, We have to do this again next week."