33 Things You Should Know About Red Hot Chili Peppers

           

11. Hillel's death was a wake-up call …
In 1988, Slovak died of a heroin overdose. "That seemed like as low as it could get," Kiedis says. "Best friend dead, drugs not working, nowhere to run. But it actually turned out to be a blessing. For the first time, it got me interested in finding another way, instead of getting high."

12. … But not for long.
Kiedis eventually got hooked again, and in a moment of cash-strapped desperation traded a Rolling Stones–autographed Stratocaster for a mere 10 minutes's worth of junk. "That's how unmanageable it had become for me," he says. "I just hope somebody was able to put lots of food on the table."

13. Chad's not actually in the band. (Shhh!)
After Slovak's death, drummer Jack Irons quit the band and Smith auditioned to replace him. Impressed by his thunderous sound, the Peppers said the job was his — if he'd shave his head. Smith's response? "Fuck you." "I think they thought that was pretty cool," he says. "But they never officially told me I was in. I've just been sorta hanging around for 18 years."

14. They ain't afraid of no ghosts (except for Chad).
For its first album with Rick Rubin, 1991's septuple-platinum Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the band rented an old, supposedly haunted house in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon. Kiedis, Flea and guitarist John Frusciante all moved in; the wary Smith did not. "I mean, I'm not scared of ghosts," he insists. "But I felt … a presence."

15. "The Bridge" is a real place.
"Under the Bridge," the melancholy ballad that made them international superstars, was inspired by an actual L.A. drug den. "It was one of those hard-to-get-to spots in the shadows of the Harbor Freeway, where like 12 different overpasses come together," Kiedis says. "I only went once — this Mexican gang controlled who could get in, and the guy I was with was apparently in their good graces. But I didn't buy anything; it was more a BYO kinda deal."