Jack Sherman, early guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, dies at 64
Jack Sherman, a guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers who was featured on their debut album, has died. He was 64.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
For the record:
6:55 p.m. Aug. 22, 2020The original version of this story contained material first published in Variety and Billboard without sufficient attribution. The story has been revised to omit the material or provide attribution where appropriate.
The news was confirmed by the band on its Instagram account on Friday.
“We of the RHCP family would like to wish Jack Sherman smooth sailing into the worlds beyond, for he has passed,” read the post. “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.”
Sherman replaced founding guitarist Hillel Slovak on the band’s 1984 debut, “The Red Hot Chili Peppers.” According to Variety, he helped write songs for the band’s next album, “Freaky Styley,” but had been replaced by a returning Slovak by the time it came out in 1985; Sherman also contributed to 1988’s “The Abbey Road EP” and 1989’s “Mother’s Milk.”
Billboard noted in its obituary that when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Sherman was left out — and peeved.
“It’s really painful to see all this celebrating going on and be excluded,” he told Billboard at the time. “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.”
Following his time with the Chili Peppers, Sherman played on albums by other artists, including Bob Dylan.
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