| Hillel Slovak |
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Hillel was born in Haifa , Israel to Esther, a holocaust survivor, born in Poland, and her husband, originally from the former Yugoslavia, a holocaust survivor as well, and moved to Queens (where John Frusciante was born) at the age of 3, then to California in 1967 . At Fairfax High School , he learned to play Guitar . Around the same time he met Anthony Kiedis and Michael Balzary (also known as Flea), whom he taught to play Bass Guitar . They formed a band and for their first show dubbed themselves "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem;" in 1983 they would rename themselves the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hillel, as well as Anthony, soon developed a Heroin addiction. Hillel left the Red Hot Chili Peppers for his side project '' What Is This? '', Contractual issues meant he couldn't record with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1984. What Is This? soon disbanded and he was able to feature on '' Freaky Styley '' and later '' The Uplift Mofo Party Plan '' (the songs "Skinny Sweaty Man" and "No Chump Love Sucker" from that album were written about him) , before dying of a heroin Overdose on June 25, 1988 at the age of 26. Eventually John Frusciante replaced Hillel as guitarist and drew much influence from Slovak's work. The songs "Knock Me Down" (from Mother's Milk ) and "My Lovely Man" ( Blood Sugar Sex Magik ) from subsequent Chili Peppers albums were dedicated or written in ode to Hillel. Nicknamed "Slim Bob Billy", "Slim", or "Huckleberry". Hillel was interred in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills , California . Slovak and Gene Simmons are the only Israeli-born musicians who became famous in the popular music market. |
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