A former guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers has died.
NBC News reported the death of Jack Sherman, who performed with the band for its debut album and first tour, was announced on the group’s Instagram page. He was 64. A cause of death was not given.
“We of the RHCP family would like to wish Jack Sherman smooth sailing into the worlds beyond, for he has passed,” the Friday post said. “Jack played on our debut album as well as our first tour of the USA. He was a unique dude and we thank him for all times good, bad and in between. Peace on the boogie platform.”
Rolling Stone reported Sherman replaced founding member Hillel Slovak in December 1983 and appeared on the group’s self-titled debut album. He wrote a number of songs on the band’s second album, 1985′s “Freaky Styley.”
When Slovak returned to the group in early 1985, tensions rose and Sherman ultimately left.
He briefly returned and did background vocals on two songs from the Chili Peppers’ 1989 album “Mother’s Milk.”
Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis credited Sherman with keeping the band stable amid Slovak’s exit.
“God bless Jack, he did keep the band afloat for a year, and if he hadn’t, the years to follow probably wouldn’t have,” Kiedis wrote in his 2004 autobiography “Scar Tissue.”
When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Sherman told Billboard at the time that his exclusion was hurtful.
“It’s really painful to see all this celebrating going on and be excluded,” Sherman said. “I’m not claiming that I’ve brought anything other to the band ... but to have soldiered on under arduous conditions to try to make the thing work, and I think that’s what you do in a job, looking back. And that’s been dishonored. I’m being dishonored, and it sucks.”
The late Andy Gill, who was a guitarist in Gang of Four and produced RHCP’s debut, credited Sherman with contributing to the band’s sound.
“I do find him to be significant to the band’s history, very much part of getting the funk guitar in there,” he told Billboard. “They just really rubbed each other up the wrong way.”
Upon leaving the group, Sherman found success as a session musician, recording for George Clinton and Bob Dylan albums, among others.
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