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October 3: Guitarist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers

lawrencebush
October 2, 2015

josh_klinghoffer_PROFILE2_42757Guitarist and vocalist Josh Adam Klinghoffer, who in 2012 became the youngest person ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was born in Los Angeles on this date in 1979. Klinghoffer is a multi-instrumentalist who also leads the alternative rock band Dot Hacker, and is a former member of Ataxia, Warpaint, and The Bicycle Thief. A high-school dropout at 15, he entered the music scene two years later and was soon songwriting with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, whom he eventually replaced (with no hard feelings) in the band. In September of this year, Klinghoffer and his bandmates announced their support for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential race. Two other Jews have been Chili Peppers members, the original drummer Jack Irons, and the band’s former guitarist, the late Hillel Slovak. To see a variety of Klinghoffer’s solos with the band (with whom he has so far recorded only one studio album), look below.

“Life seems terrible and disappointing, so you need to find something you need to make you stick around. Music that makes me happiest is the saddest music, with the most emotional feel.” —Josh Klinghoffer