Hillel Slovak

At the Fairfax High School where he studied, young Hillel Slovak, along with his friends Todd Strassman and Alain Johannes, formed the band Chain Reaction (later renamed to Anthem and then Anthym). After winning the second place at a local music contest, the band started playing at local nightclubs. Then after changing its name to What Is This?, the band proceeded to perform in several events along the California coast.

After sometime, Slovak and his pals Kiedis and Flea started creating their own music. The three then created the band Tony Flow & the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem with Jack Irons. This band started doing shows and even released its song titled ‘Out in L.A.’ Then after renaming itself to Red Hot Chili Peppers, the band began performing in L.A. clubs.

Since Slovak considered the Peppers to be his side project at that time, he left the band to concentrate on What is This? During the recording of the latter’s second album, he got frustrated with the band and ultimately re-joined the Chili Peppers for their album ‘Freaky Styley’ which got released on August 16, 1985. Later, Slovak helped the band release their third album titled ‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan’.

Slovak became addicted to heroin early in his career and he often tried to conceal his addiction from family and friends. During a tour, Slovak's health started to deteriorate and he became too weak to perform. Following this, the musician decided to ditch the drugs and begin a new drug-free phase of his life. Unfortunately, Slovak had become too severely addicted and was unable to stop despite his keen desire to stop taking heroin. On June 27, 1988, he was found dead in his Hollywood apartment. After his autopsy, it was concluded that Slovak had died two days earlier due to heroin overdose.