Hillel Slovak was an Israeli-American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Slovak's work was one of the major contributing factors to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' early sound. He was also a huge influence on a young John Frusciante, who would later replace him as guitarist in the band.
Slovak and Anthony Kiedis became addicted to heroin early in their careers. Deciding to give sobriety a chance, both Kiedis and Hillel stopped using prior to their European tour in support of The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. During the tour both experienced intense heroin withdrawal – Hillel seemingly much more unstable than Kiedis – and upon returning home they both resumed their addictions. Little is known about his life the weeks following the tour, aside from a phone call to his brother. Slovak was found dead here in his apartment on the corner of Afton Place and El Centro in Hollywood due to a Speedball (drug) overdose on June 25, 1988.
His address at Afton Arms (aka Castle) was 6141 Afton apt. #114, Hollywood, CA 90028.
His last recording, a cover version of the Jimi Hendrix song "Fire", would later appear in the Abbey Road EP and album Mothers Milk. Frusciante based a lot of his playing style on Slovak's work. The songs "Knock Me Down" (from Mother's Milk) and "My Lovely Man" (from Blood Sugar Sex Magik) were written as tributes to Hillel.
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Just reading the Scar Tissue book atm and so sad to see a talent like this lost.
Is that true? nobody reported that he killed himself …. even more than he had HIV. is this really true?
In the summer of '88 I met the band in Utrecht, The Netherlands. (I was in The Urban Dance Squad, their support band back then.) We hung, went to a pizzeria and a 'coffee shop' and had a lot of fun after the gig as well. We went to Amsterdam and I hooked them up with my buddy Schiffmacher, the tattoo artist of Hanky panky fame.
Hillel was the nicest, frienliest and also most talented Pepper at the time.
But here it is: one of my band members had sex with Hillel. Then this guy had sex with my girlfriend. And because she was my girlfriend, I had sex with her afterwards.
Then we got a call from Hillel: he was diagnosed wit HIV: go see the doctor!
Fortunately both me, my girlfriend and my deejay were clean.
Hillel wasn't, and decided to kill himself.
I still think of him. In a good way.
1. Are you saying Hillel was gay?
2. He had a tattoo too that time?
3. Are you kidding us?
@ DeLuxe: U are full of it. The RHCP were in Holland in the Spring of '88, nót Summer. In fact, when Summer arrived, Hillel had been back in LA for a few weeks. He died June 25th, Summer starts at the 21st of that same month. Do the math.
You are a pathetic attention whore spreading such lies about Hillel. Maybe he wasn't a Saint (who is?) but he sure doesn't deserve being lied about by some Internet-lowlife. Not for one second I consider this to be true, and n'either should anyone else.