A newly surfaced photo of Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante when he was heavily using drugs from 1997 has been posted on Reddit. John Frusciante’s stunning weight loss from drug use was detailed a few days ago.
Londonvibestar posted, “This is from the Nuttsalk tour with bassist Norwood Fisher (Fishbone) & drummer Chris Warren (Chad Smith’s current drum tech).”
Listogast asked, “Mystery guitar?”
WJL91 responded, “1965/66 fender strat in candy apple red I think it was.”
Listogast added, “Must have been borrowed or something. I thought he only had his red Jaguar until Anthony brought him to go get the 62 Strat.”
WJL91 wrote, “Think he only had the 62 jag at the time of rejoining rhcp in 1998. This being 1997, pics would also suggest he had a sunburst jag too. Prob sold them for drug money (like the purpose of the SFTSYH release the same year) or as you say borrowed them potentially!”
_itsalllowercase said, “I heard he released another album after that ladies one to support his addiction. This must be from one of the handful of shows he did to support it. Correct me if I’m wrong please.”
Imetral chimed in, “I believe at this point he was off H but was still doing crack and drinking a lot.”
Willbec1 posted, “Was there a stage where he had temporary fake teeth? He didn’t get his permanent fake teeth until ’98 right? His teeth here seem pretty white/clean. Especially when compared to the VPRO interview.”
Pjautuvas concluded, “I think so. His speech was really slurred in his 1997 interview, which matches with the fact that he had his remaining teeth removed earlier that year to avoid a possibly lethal infection.
Then in 1998-1999, there where photos of his face either looking weird and slightly swollen, and he also grew a massive beard during Californication tour, as well as started speaking with a noticeable lisp. I think he had reconstructive jaw surgery and teeth implants during that time, which explains the beard, swelling and sudden lisp.” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ex-guitarist canceled a huge show earlier this week.
