Author Guide ·
Books Written by
Anthony Kiedis has spent more than four decades as the voice and primary lyricist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, one of the most commercially successful rock bands to come out of Los Angeles. On October 6, 2004, he stepped away from lyrics long enough to publish Scar Tissue, a 480-page memoir tracing his chaotic childhood, the band’s formation and rise, and a drug addiction that nearly killed him more than once. It reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List and is regularly cited as one of the better rock memoirs precisely because it doesn’t sand down the ugly parts. It remains his only published book.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 book · Memoir & Music · Memoirs & Biographies · Resilience · Non-Fiction · Updated July 2026
- BookScar Tissue (2004)
- Co-written withLarry Sloman
- StatusNo. 1, New York Times Best Seller List
MemoirCore book
Scar Tissue
Kiedis’s memoir, written with journalist Larry Sloman, opens mid-relapse and works both forward and backward from there — through a childhood split between a straitlaced mother in Michigan and a father immersed in 1970s Hollywood drug culture, the formation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983, the band’s chaotic early years and eventual mainstream success, and repeated cycles of addiction, overdose, and recovery that ran alongside the band’s biggest commercial triumphs. It reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List.
What separates this from most rock memoirs is the refusal to frame addiction as a colorful backstory to a success story. Kiedis is unflinching about the damage, including to people close to him, in a way that makes the book read less like a victory lap and more like an honest accounting. If you want one rock memoir that treats recovery as an ongoing, unresolved process rather than a tidy third act, this is it.
A note on this page
Anthony Kiedis has published one book. His other public output — song lyrics for the Red Hot Chili Peppers — isn’t included here, since this page covers his published books specifically.
If addiction and recovery memoirs are what you’re here for
→ My books about resilience list and my best self-improvement books list both have more in this vein.
If it’s music memoirs generally you want more of
→ My best memoirs and biographies list has the fuller range.
Looking for what else I recommend
→ Every book I’ve personally reviewed lives on my bookshelf.
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