Hillel Slovak

Hillel Slovak was born in 1962 in Haifa

Hillel Slovak was born in Haifa in 1962 to Jewish parents who had survived the Holocaust. His family moved to the United States, first to Queens in New York City and later to the Fairfax area of Los Angeles. As a child he painted with his mother, Esther, and received his first guitar as a bar mitzvah gift.

At Fairfax High School he formed a band with Jack Irons, Alain Johannes and Todd Strassman, later called Anthym and then What Is This. He taught Flea to play bass, and Flea replaced Strassman. There he also met Anthony Kiedis.

With Kiedis, Flea and Irons he played in the group that became the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When What Is This got a record deal, he left, and the band recorded its 1984 debut album without him. He returned in 1985 and recorded Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

Slovak struggled with heroin addiction and died of an overdose on June 25, 1988. The band dedicated several songs to him, and in 1999 his brother James published a book of his diaries and paintings. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band.