The guitarist Hillel Slovak is best known as the co-founding member of Red Hot Chili Peppers. The musician embraced funk and hard rock genres in addition to reggae and speed metal in his music. He considerably impacted RHCP’s earlier sounds after meeting Anthony Kiedis, Flea, and Jack Irons in high school and establishing the band in 1983.
However, Slovak left the band before releasing their self-titled debut album, including several songs he co-wrote. Later on, the guitarist rejoined and released two successful albums, entitled ‘Freaky Styley’ and ‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan,’ with the band. Unfortunately, Slovak could not create more than these two albums.
Hillel Slovak Had A Severe Heroin Addiction
Hillel Slovak and Anthony Kiedis were struggling with heroin addiction during the earlier times in their music career. The band members were more worried about Kiedis’ addiction because Slovak was trying to keep his addiction confidential. Even his family members were not aware of his addiction at that period. While the group was on tour to promote ‘Freaky Styley,’ the members recognized that Slovak’s condition had deteriorated.
Slovak and Kiedis realized their condition was worsening in time, so they decided to sober up before the tour for ‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.’ They both withdrew from heroin while on the road and helped each other in this process. However, Slovak’s condition was worse than Kiedis’ because he was more unstable throughout the tour. It got so bad that he had to leave the stage halfway once. DeWayne McKnight replaced his place for a few performances. Slovak had difficulty accepting that his condition worsened when Kiedis guided him to get help.
Hillel Slovak Eventually Passed Away
After completing the tour for ‘The Uplift Mofo Party Plan,’ Slovak distanced himself from the band members. Without receiving any help from his bandmates, he tried to get rid of his addiction. The group members could not contact him for a while even if they tried to. Unfortunately, Slovak was found dead at his home on June 25, 1988. The authorities revealed that the reason was a heroin overdose.
Slovak’s death was devastating for all the remaining members. Kiedis could not find the strength to attend his bandmate’s funeral as it felt very surreal for him. Although Kiedis initially did not quit heroin, he decided to get clean after visiting Slovak’s grave. On the other hand, Irons left the band and struggled with depression for a long time as he could not bear the loss.
In his autobiography entitled ‘Acid For The Children,’ Flea also wrote how Slovak became an inspiration for him during his music career. He expressed his sadness by mentioning all the good times they experienced could not be repeated. As Flea stated, Slovak had a massive impact on his musical personality.
Flea wrote in his autobiography:
“Hillel was dead. I crumpled to the floor. No more, nothing. No more dancing or no more arguments. No more supportive discussions. No more yearning. No more discovering ourselves together in funky grooves. No more of the easy laughter at the unsaid jokes. No more chance to fix it. No more, nothing. His inspiration lives in me. I would never be the Flea you all know without him.”
Unfortunately, Hillel Slovak passed away at a very young age because of heroin addiction when he had just begun his successful music career. His bandmates could not get over his sudden death for a long time. Slovak left this world as a great inspiration to his bandmates and the whole music world.
