"At last, I had something to do that had meaning and purpose. I felt I could put every idea and stupid little philosophy that I had into a song."

"I instinctively knew that the miracle of manipulating energy and tapping into an infinite source of power and harnessing it in a small space with your friends was what I had been put on this earth to do."

"It's always important to give things away; it creates good energy. If you have a closet full of clothes, and you try to keep them all, your life will get very small. But if you have a full closet and someone sees something they like, if you give it to them, the world is a better place."

"it started dawning on me that you don't have to be Al Green or have an incredible Freddie Mercury voice to have a place in the world of music. Rhyming and developing a character were another way to do it."

"I recognize when I feel a sense of entitlement you get used to having things your way - but I also recognize the absurdity of that, and I'm willing to laugh at myself and to acknowledge when I'm being a spoiled brat and when I'm not. I found it fascinating and peculiar, more than suddenly thinking I was better than or holier them."

"When you're at odds with yourself, it's hard to create. Sometimes the writing process is as easy as opening up the window and letting in the breeze. And sometimes it's like chiseling away at a block of granite with a pencil."

"It's so lonely when you don't even know yourself."

"It didn't matter one bit if I was the only person dancing, I was so into supporting my friends' art."

"You're feeling like shit? Go get out of yourself and do something for someone else, voila, you don't feel like shit anymore. You're confused and you're driving yourself crazy? Go call a guy who's got three days sober and has no clue what to do. The minute you get out of your self-centered mind-set, you're instantly freed of your own pain."

"It's that appreciation of every emotion in the spectrum that that I live for. I don't go out of my way to create it, but I have found a way to embrace all of it. It's not about putting down any of these experiences, because now that I've had them, and now that I'm almost four years sober, I'm in a position to be of service to hundreds of other suffering people."

"It was important to me to be the straight-A student. In a way, I was a rebel by getting good grades, because most of the stoners and the druggies were getting no grades."

In this "vivid and inspiring" New York Times bestseller (Newsweek), the Red Hot Chili Peppers' lead singer and songwriter shares a searingly honest account of life in the rock scene's fast lane—from the darkness into the light. In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group's lyricist and dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride. In Scar Tissue, Kiedis delivers a compelling life story from a man "in love with everything"—the darkness, the death, the disease. Even his descent into drug addiction was a part of that journey, another element transformed into art. Whether he's honoring the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses or remembering the roaring crowds of Woodstock and the Dalai Lama's humble compound, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption—a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.

NINA HAGEN

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