John Anthony Frusciante (; born March 5, 1970) is an American musician best known as the guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has also released 12 solo albums and seven EPs.
Frusciante joined the Chili Peppers at age 18 after the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak, and first appeared on the band’s album Mother’s Milk (1989). His second album with the band, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), became their breakthrough hit; overwhelmed by the newfound popularity, Frusciante quit in 1992. He became a recluse and fell into drug addiction. In 1998, he completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the band. Their next album, Californication (1999), sold 15.4 million copies. It was followed by By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006). Frusciante left again in 2009 to focus on his solo work, and rejoined in 2019.
Frusciante’s solo work encompasses genres including experimental rock, ambient music, and electronica. He released his first solo albums, Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997), during a period of drug addiction. He released six albums in 2004, each exploring different genres and recording techniques. In 2009, Frusciante released The Empyrean, which features Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Josh Klinghoffer. Frusciante has also released acid house music under the alias Trickfinger. With Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally, he released two albums as Ataxia. He has also worked with acts including the Mars Volta, Duran Duran, Wu-Tang Clan, Swahili Blonde, Black Knights, the Bicycle Thief, Glenn Hughes, Ziggy Marley, Johnny Cash, George Clinton, Johnny Marr, and Dewa Budjana.
Frusciante was named the 18th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone’s in 2003, and the 72nd in 2011. He was ranked as number 42 in Gibson’s list of the “50 Best Guitarists of All Time”. He was voted “The Best Guitarist of the Last 30 Years” in a 2010 BBC poll called “The Axe Factor”. Frusciante was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 14, 2012.