Frontman of Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis reflects on his past addictions on Joe Rogan's podcast. They talked about a variety of topics, including the early days of the Chili Peppers, Kiedis' sobriety, drug addiction, The Beastie Boys and more.
Kiedis talks about how he started smoking weed as a young teenager. He said "Years went by and there was no problem... and then I started introducing narcotics... it was interesting and it was exciting, but it was also painful as hell. In the end, this is a life of suffering."
The frontman ads "It had nothing to do with rock n' roll," he stresses. "It was exciting and dangerous, like, Hmmm, everyone is afraid of that, I think I'll do that thing that just the word scares people. But it was also a way of checking out... I felt whole by putting these things in me, until I had to pay the toll. It was finding the thing that I thought was going to make me well... but reality it was just killing me."
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He described that at the age of 27, he took himself to rehab and spent $10,000 "I went and I checked in and it was 30 dope fiends in the room from all walks of life, but all with a common sickness. And the counselor said, 'I'm looking at 30 of you and stats wise one of you is going to get sober out of here.' Wow. And I was like, 'Get out the way because I'm taking that spot.'"
Anthony Kiedis also spoke about trying out Brazilian jiu-jitsu “I tried it three times in my life… It hurt. It freaking hurt! It hurt like, I liked it. But I was so competitive that I got home and I realized that there was no skin on my feet from the mats. I have no technique. So, I’m just trying to muscle it you know; dig in. And it hurt.â€
Whether you're a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or not, or a Joe Rogan fan or not. There's no denying that Anthony Kiedis is an interesting guy with a lot of interesting things to say. If you haven't already, I urge you to check out the full episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring Kiedis. It's well worth your time.