page_title: Anthony Kiedis
section_title: Musical style
hierarchical_section_title: Anthony Kiedis / Artistry / Musical style
caption_attribution_description: ARGO-Konzerte,Anthony Kiedis,Festival,Konzert,Livekonzert,Livemusik,Musik,Red Hot Chili Peppers,RiP,Rock im Park 2016,Seat Zeppelin Stage
context_page_description: Anthony Kiedis is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known as a founding member and the lead vocalist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and has appeared on every album released by the band. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
  Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother, then moved shortly before his twelfth birthday to live with his father in Hollywood. While attending Fairfax High School, Kiedis developed close friendships with fellow students Michael Balzary and Hillel Slovak, who at the time were members of a band called Anthym. After high school, Kiedis began taking classes at UCLA, but dropped out early in his sophomore year.
  He later received an offer to be the opening act for a local band, and enlisted Flea, Slovak, and drummer Jack Irons to assist. After a show under the name "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem", the band progressed and the line-up eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
  He has recorded eleven studio albums with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
context_section_description: While creating lyrics and melodies for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kiedis has drawn from various sources for inspiration. His first musical memory was hearing Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" at age eleven: "It moved me so much that I insisted my mother buy me the 45." In high school, he was highly influenced by the rap-style vocals of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message" and the "in-your-face sexual lyrics" of Prince's "Dirty Mind". Kiedis writes most of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' lyrics. Starting with 1989's Mother's Milk album, John Frusciante and Flea have written nearly all of the music (excluding melodies) for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, while Kiedis adds lyrics and melodies he hears during instrumental jams by his bandmates. Kiedis said in 2006, "Somehow I find songs... in the bigness of what they're doing." His lyrical style has varied over the years. During the band's early years, Kiedis wrote many lyrics detailing his enjoyment of sex, drugs, and life in Los Angeles. As his musical tastes expanded and his outlook on life changed, he began writing songs about a wider spectrum of subjects. His lyrics include many of the same themes as the writings of Charles Bukowski, Kiedis' main literary influence.
  His early vocal style with the band primarily consisted of rapping. On Mother's Milk (1989), Kiedis wrote more melody-driven songs, rather than the basic rhythm and beat style of funk. The first song where Kiedis employed his new melodic style was "Knock Me Down". The melody was actually shaped and performed by guitarist John Frusciante. Upon joining the band, Frusciante sang lead vocals on the song along with Kiedis. Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991 still saw Kiedis rapping, but he also started singing in songs such as "Under the Bridge", "Breaking the Girl", and "I Could Have Lied". Over the years, Kiedis grew to favor singing over rapping. Kiedis has had many vocal coaches, but none of them had helped him sing "well." In fact, it was not until 1999's Californication that he felt he could take full control of his voice while singing.
caption: Kiedis at Rock im Park, Germany, 2016
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