Hillel Slovak (הלל סלובק; April 13, 1962 – June 25, 1988) was an Israeli-American musician, best known as the founding guitarist of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded two albums.
His guitar work was rooted in funk and hard rock, and he often experimented with other genres, including reggae and speed metal.
He is considered to have been a major influence on Red Hot Chili Peppers's early sound.
Born in Israel, he later moved to the United States.
Slovak met future bandmates Anthony Kiedis, Flea, and Jack Irons while attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.
There, he formed the group What Is This? with Irons, Alain Johannes, and Todd Strassman; Flea later replaced Strassman.
1967
They settled in the Queens borough of New York City, then in 1967 relocated to Southern California.
As a child, Slovak developed an interest in art, and often spent time painting with his mother, Esther.
He attended Laurel Elementary School in West Hollywood and Bancroft Jr. High School in Hollywood, where he met future bandmates Jack Irons and Michael "Flea" Balzary.
Slovak received his first guitar at age 13 as a bar mitzvah present, and regularly played the instrument into the late hours of the night.
During this time, he was highly influenced by hard rock music such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss.
As a freshman at Fairfax High School, Slovak formed a band with Irons on drums and two other high school friends, Alain Johannes and Todd Strassman.
They called their band Chain Reaction, then changed the name to Anthem after their first gig.
After one of the group's shows, Slovak met audience member Anthony Kiedis, and invited him to his house for a snack.
Kiedis later described the experience in his autobiography Scar Tissue: "Within a few minutes of hanging out with Hillel, I sensed that he was absolutely different from most of the people I'd spent time with ... He understood a lot about music, he was a great visual artist, and he had a sense of self and a calm about him that were just riveting."
Slovak, Kiedis and Flea became best friends and often used LSD, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine recreationally.
The original bassist for Anthem, which renamed to Anthym, was deemed unsatisfactory, so Slovak began teaching Flea to play bass.
Following several months of commitment to the instrument, Flea developed proficiency and a strong musical chemistry with Slovak.
When Strassman saw Flea playing Anthym songs on his equipment he quit the band, with Flea quickly replacing him.
Shortly afterwards Anthym entered a local Battle of the Bands contest and won second place.
Anthym started to play at local nightclubs, despite the fact that the members were all underage.
After graduating from high school, the band changed their name to What Is This?.
Around the same time, Flea left the band to accept an offer to play bass in the prominent L.A. punk band Fear.
What Is This? continued on and performed many shows along the California coast.
Slovak, Kiedis, and Flea began to create their own music after finding inspiration in a punk-funk fusion band called Defunkt.
The three formed a band with former Anthym-drummer Jack Irons called Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem.
The band had only one song, entitled "Out in L.A.", and was formed for the purpose of playing the song once.
The song was based on a guitar riff that Slovak wrote while "jamming" with Irons, and was not meant to become a real song until Kiedis decided to rap over the music.
Following the group's first show at The Rhythm Lounge, the owner of the bar asked them to return, but with two songs instead of one.
After several more shows, and the addition of several songs to their repertoire, the band's name was changed to Red Hot Chili Peppers.
1983
Slovak, Flea, Kiedis, and Irons founded Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983, gaining popularity in Los Angeles through their energetic stage presence and spirited performances.
1984
Slovak eventually quit to focus on What is This?, which had been signed to a record deal, leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers to record their 1984 debut album without him, including five songs he co-wrote.
1985
Slovak rejoined the Chili Peppers in 1985 and recorded the albums Freaky Styley (1985) and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) with them.
During his career, Slovak developed a serious heroin addiction.
1988
He attempted to rehabilitate several times but died of an overdose on June 25, 1988, at age 26.
Several Red Hot Chili Peppers songs have been written as tributes to Slovak, including "Knock Me Down", "My Lovely Man", and "Feasting on the Flowers".
1999
In 1999, his brother James published a book, Behind the Sun: The Diary and Art of Hillel Slovak, which features Slovak's diaries and paintings.
2012
Slovak was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 14, 2012, with his brother accepting the award on his behalf.
Hillel Slovak was born in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish parents who were survivors of the Holocaust.
His mother was originally from Poland while his father grew up in Yugoslavia.
