Background and career
Anthony Kiedis ( KEE-dis; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his mother, and then moved shortly before his twelfth birthday to live with his father in Hollywood. While attending Fairfax High School, Kiedis befriended students Flea and Hillel Slovak, who were members of the band Anthym. After high school, Kiedis took classes at UCLA, but dropped out in his second year. When Kiedis received an offer to be the opening act for a local band, he enlisted Flea, Slovak, and drummer Jack Irons. After a show under the name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, the band progressed and the lineup eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has recorded thirteen studio albums with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Kiedis's lyrical style has evolved throughout his career; early recordings discussed topics such as sex and life in Los Angeles, while more recent songs focus on more reflective themes including love, addiction, and loss. He struggled with addiction until 2000, and maintains that he has been clean since then.
Early life and education Kiedis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 1, 1962, to Margaret "Peggy" Nobel and struggling actor John Michael Kiedis, known professionally as Blackie Dammett. His paternal grandfather's family emigrated from Lithuania in the early 1900s. In 2004, Kiedis wrote that his paternal grandmother, Molly VanderVeen, "was a pastiche of English, Irish, French, and Dutch (and, as we’ve recently discovered, some Mohican blood, which explains my interest in Native American culture and identification with Mother Earth)". In 1966, when Kiedis was three years old, his parents divorced, and he was raised by his mother in Grand Rapids. His mother later remarried and had two more children. Each summer, Kiedis would visit his father in Hollywood, California, for two weeks, where the two would bond. Kiedis idolized his father, recalling: "Those trips to California were the happiest, most carefree, the-world-is-a-beautiful-oyster times I'd ever experienced." In 1974, when Kiedis was 12, he moved to Hollywood to live with his father full-time.
Kiedis's father sold drugs, and the two often used marijuana and cocaine together. At age 18, Kiedis accidentally tried heroin for the first time, mistaking it for cocaine. Through his father, Kiedis landed his first acting role, appearing as Sylvester Stallone's character's son in the 1978 film, F.I.S.T. He landed two more acting jobs, in an ABC Afterschool Special and an appearance in the film Jokes My Folks Never Told Me. Kiedis attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, where he struggled to find friends, but he met his future bandmate Flea. The two had a brief confrontation, but then became best friends and bonded while sitting next to each other in driver's education class. Kiedis recalled, "We were drawn to each other by the forces of mischief and love and we became virtually inseparable. We were both social outcasts. We found each other and it turned out to be the longest-lasting friendship of my life." Kiedis became a significant influence on Flea, exposing him to rock music, particularly punk rock.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth, in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
